Fowl Play
by Ryan Brooklyn
Summary: The Lady Artemis has disappeared and it is up to three heroes to find her. With the help of two mortals who can see through the Mist, Nico di Angelo, Percy Jackson, and Annabeth Chase must play a most deadly game that will test everything they have.
1. The Unwanted Prophesy and Flight to NY

**A/N: I have a new favorite series: **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**. I read them all in one weekend and now I have an idea for a fic (go figure). This is a crossover fic with **_**Artemis Fowl**_** since I've wanted to write a fic with him yet haven't had any ideas. I thought it was cool that Eoin Colfer liked **_**The Lightning Thief**_**. You don't have to have read **_**Artemis Fowl**_** to understand this fanfic, but be warned:**

**WARNING! HERE THERE BE SPOILERS FOR ALL PERCY JACKSON AND ARTEMIS FOWL BOOKS!**

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned either the _Artemis Fowl_ series or the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series, I wouldn't be sitting here writing this. I would be lounging beside the pool outside my mansion, counting my gold and laughing at the poor people who have to write fanfiction._

**Rating:** PG to PG-13

**Genre:** Adventure/Drama

**Summary: **The Lady Artemis has disappeared and it is up to three heroes to find her. With the help of two mortals who can see through the Mist, Nico di Angelo, Percy Jackson, and Annabeth Chase must play a most deadly game that will test everything they have.

**Pairings:** Percy/Annabeth, some onesided Nico/Annabeth, mentions of Thalia/Luke, mentions of Arty/Holly, some slight Arty/Juliet, and some Arty/Rachel

**Fowl Play**

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* * *

****Chapter 1/The Unwanted Prophesy and Flight to New York **

Nico di Angelo gaped openly at the redhead in front of him. The green glow faded from her eyes and she blinked rapidly. Once she caught his expression, she grinned faintly.

"I take it you're surprised?" she asked. When she got no answer, she rolled her eyes and leaned forward, pushing his chin up gently to close his mouth. At her touch he stiffened and pulled back, closing his lips tightly. A dark frown clouded his face. She turned to the others in the room.

"What did it say?"

Annabeth Chase stepped forward, having memorized the prophesy instantly.

"_Three heroes to seek the lost one fair,__  
The one of the Hunt who took the dare.  
__Eyes of two colors will see things through,  
__A plot of games he shall well brew.__  
And them the child of death shall lead,__  
If any or all is to succeed.  
__But he shall fall before the end,  
__Unless his fear away he send.  
__This begins the greatest test.  
No one untouched will end the quest._"

Nico ran his hands agitatedly through his dark hair. "That's about me, isn't it? The 'child of death' part?"

"Looks that way," Rachel Elizabeth Dare said with a slight grin. "Your first quest! You excited?"

Nico glanced over at her sharply. "Do I _look_ excited?" he asked with an intense frown.

Rachel looked as though she was about to say something else, when Percy Jackson cut in quickly.

"Anyway, the 'three heroes' part . . . do you know who you want to take with you?" he asked, thinking he already knew the answer but wanting to change the subject.

Nico shrugged halfheartedly. "You and Annabeth I guess. You're the only heroes I know that well." The frown did not leave his face.

Percy knew what he meant. It had only been a few months after the final battle with Kronos, but already people had settled back into their usual routine. That included training, fighting monsters, gathering new half-bloods, and avoiding Nico. They did not do it on purpose, Percy knew. Nico had been a celebrity of sorts around the camp for several weeks, what with his convincing his father to join the battle and all. But with all the new kids coming . . .

They did not know Nico's great feat in persuading the god of the Underworld to fight for Olympus and had no reason to idolize him. They shrank away from his smell, for no matter how many times he bathed he still had a slight stench of death clinging to him. His intense dark eyes and sometimes creepy smiles did not help, and neither did his habit of wearing all black and insisting on carrying his sword everywhere.

"Nico, have you _tried_ to be friends with anyone?" Percy had asked one time.

The boy had just shrugged. "I'm not popular or stupidly charming like you, Percy. Being around me . . . they all think it's too depressing. Or they just want me to conjure up a dead relative or something."

"Well, you can relate to that," Percy had said, probably unwisely.

Sure enough, Nico shut down after that and refused to answer any more questions.

Now he stood pacing in front of Chiron, Percy, Rachel, Annabeth, Grover, and Mr. D. Only Percy, Rachel, and Annabeth were watching him though. Mr. D and Chiron were playing pinochle and Grover was chewing dutifully on a soda can, trying his best not to appear like he was eavesdropping when he was supposed to be going over the notes taken from the last Cloven Elders meeting. He had come to talk to Chiron about a pollution problem they were having in Central Park, but he had been interrupted by an Iris-message from the god Apollo.

"My sister is missing," he told them with a look of tragic depression on his face. "Some guy said he was better at archery than her and she took it as a personal insult. She went to challenge him to a contest and we haven't seen her since. It's been two weeks . . . I'm so upset I can't even compose any haikus!"

They knew then that it was serious. It had then been Chiron's great idea to have Nico be the one to go out and find her. Before the boy had a chance to protest, he had called Rachel so the Oracle could speak to him. Now there was tense silence.

"Of course we'll go with you," Annabeth said with an encouraging smile. She gave Percy a sharp nudge and he nodded.

"Of course," he added with a smile of his own.

Nico just glanced at them and continued pacing. "I'm no good at leading," he said finally, stopping and spreading his hands out to the side in a helpless gesture. "Percy should be the one to do it."

"That won't do; it's _your_ quest Mr. di Angelo," Chiron said without looking up from his cards.

Percy shrugged apologetically. "Sorry buddy.

"But I don't want to look for Artemis. She _isn't_ exactly my favorite goddess in case you haven't figured that out." The look on Nico's face could have frozen Niagara Falls in a heat wave.

"Careful, boy," Mr. D warned, waving his hand and snatching a Diet Coke can out of the air. "Or you'll be struck down where you stand. Not that I'd care. But I'd have to clean up the mess. Then again I could always order someone else to do it. So go ahead. Curse at the gods. It'll be one less camper to put up with. In fact, why don't you take your friends too?"

Everyone ignored him. A fact which made him huff and bid wrong in the game.

"Is it because of what happened to your sister?" Rachel asked Nico sympathetically.

Nico just grit his teeth and went back to pacing. "Who's this other person in the prophesy? Maybe _he_ can be the leader."

Rachel coughed suddenly. Percy glanced sidelong at her. "You know who the Oracle was talking about?"

She grimaced. "I have an idea," she said. "There's this kid I know. His dad does business with my dad. He's a prodigy. Real kid genius. He's only like fifteen, and he's already invented and done all this stuff. Real good thief too. He could steal your teeth and you wouldn't notice until three days later." She took a deep breath. "He's coming into town with his dad to do some business. We're supposed to go to a Gala performance of a Broadway show tomorrow night." She rolled her eyes. "My dad's been trying to set us up for years."

"I take it you don't like him," Percy said with a slight grin.

She glared at him. "He's annoying and stuck up. But I'll see what I can do to get him to meet with you guys."

"You think he'll be able to see through the Mist?" Nico asked suspiciously.

"If anyone can see through the Mist, it's Artemis Fowl."

"_Another_ 'Artemis'?" Nico heaved a great sigh. "The gods must hate me."

Grover reached over, patted Nico on the back sympathetically and offered him a bite out of his can. He realized his mistake and blushed, dropping the can and digging an apple out of somewhere. Nico pushed the proffered food away and stormed out of the cabin. The others looked at each other. Most of their gazes fell on Percy. He stared back at them dumbly before asking,

"What?"

Annabeth looked pointedly at the door. Percy sighed. "Fine, I'll go after him." Standing, he made his way out the door and toward the cabins.

In a dark, shadowy part of the clearing was where Nico had chosen to have his Hades cabin built. Percy thought it looked depressing and creepy with its black and gray exterior and a human skull above the door. Fake of course . . . at least he assumed it was fake. He never actually worked up the nerve to ask. No wonder none of the new kids hung out with Nico. Sometimes just saying "the Son of Hades" gave people the willies.

Knocking gently, he carefully opened the door and peeked inside. Nico was seated on his bed, his back facing the door. Soft, mournful music played out of an iPod dock next to the bed, a woman's low, creepy voice moaning the loss of some loved one. Set up on a dresser was a line of figurines. Pieces of the game Nico used to play when he was younger. The gods were lined up according to their importance, but Percy noticed that Hades had been placed before Zeus. He hoped the head god of Olympus would not take offense to that.

"Nico? Can I come in?"

He heard no sound toward the negative or the positive, so he took a chance and stepped inside the cabin. Instantly a chill came over him. It felt as though a cold, dry wind circled the room. The place stank faintly of death. Percy was used to it by now, having hung around Nico for so long, but it was still rather unsettling.

"Hey buddy," Percy said, trying to control his goosebumps as he approached the bed. He noticed Nico looked perfectly normal, well as normal as Nico looked at least. He was still too skinny and pale and he had yet to cut his hair which hung shaggily down to brush the nape of his neck.

Percy sat gingerly on the end of the bed on the black bedspread. He glanced at the pillow which case displayed a skull and crossbones decal. He adverted his gaze and looked over at Nico, blocking out the creepy music.

"Are you scared?" he asked after a moment.

Nico raised and lowered one shoulder. Percy figured he would be, seeing as this was his first quest. It was sometimes hard to remember that the kid was only twelve years old. And Percy could remember how scared he was when he went on his first quest when he was twelve. Not to mention confused as heck. At least Nico knew about his specialness early on.

"Mad?" Percy tried again.

No response this time. He knew he hit something there. He sighed and pushed a hand through his messy black hair. "Look," he said. "I know you don't like Artemis and I know why. But this is a hugely important quest and you can't back out just because you don't like her. Think of her Hunters. Think of Thalia. Gods, Thalia must be seriously ticked off. She's probably still looking for her Lady."

Nico had to smile at that image. "Yeah, she wouldn't ever give up." He paused. "I say let her take care of it."

Percy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, Nico. Quit acting like a baby. You're going on this quest and me and Annabeth will be right there along with you. So you've got nothing to worry about."

Nico looked thoughtful for a moment. "You promise you'll hold be back if snap and try to take her head off?"

"Oh, I totally promise. I'll knock you out if I have to." Percy grinned.

Nico grinned suddenly back. "Thanks."

"What are friends for?"

Percy clapped Nico on the shoulder and stood up to leave. "By the way, your music and cabin really creep me out."

A sinister gleam entered Nico's eyes and his grin faded to a dark smile. "Do they?"

Thoroughly freaked out, Percy left in a hurry.

* * *

Above the Atlantic a small, expensive jet made its way toward the city of New York, the lights from the cabin and cockpit glittering in the darkened sky. Inside a teenage boy, immaculately dressed, sat fingering a practically empty glass of iced tea. Beside him sat a tall blond, athletic looking girl, her hands tapping impatiently on the armrest beside her.

Across the aisle a dark haired man leaned his head against the wall of the aircraft, his eyes closed in slumber, a dark blue blanket draped over him.

"I do wish Father had chosen a different musical to go to tomorrow night. _Mamma Mia!_ is _not_ my choice for intelligent entertainment." The boy said in a bored tone, swirling the tea in the bottom of the glass leisurely.

"I think it's Mr. Dare's daughter's favorite."

"All the more reason to skip it and go to a gallery opening or something that appeals more to my artistic tastes."

The blond girl grinned slightly. "Now Artemis, you promised to behave on this trip. You promised both your mother, father, _and_ Captain Short. I think sneaking off to a gallery opening would be classified under 'disobedience.'"

Artemis sighed. "You're right Juliet, of course. I _did_ promise to behave. But if I can convince Father and Mr. Dare that going to a gallery opening would be much more dignified and better for reputation than attending a musical full of sex-deprived females pining after lost loves, then it would not be disobedience, but diplomacy."

Juliet snorted with laughter. Artemis's mouth twitched slightly. "Do you know when we're to land?"

The girl checked her watch. "It's another couple of hours I think."

Artemis nodded and glanced out the window, his expression almost wistful. Juliet watched his face carefully. She thought she knew what he was thinking about.

"I'm sure she misses you to," she said with a slightly teasing grin.

Artemis leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes and refusing to take the bait. "I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular," he said calmly. "I only wish Butler were here."

Juliet looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled fondly. "Yeah, he was rather disappointed when your Father told him to stay at home." She paused. "I'm sure he was looking forward to seeing _Mamma Mia!_." A slight snicker escaped her lips.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, his eyes still closed. "Considering the fact that Butler's sex life has been practically non-existent his entire life, I highly doubt he would relate. All due respect to Butler, of course."

Juliet stared down at Artemis for a moment before bursting out in laughter. It was apparently contagious for Artemis allowed himself a tiny chuckle.

"You're so lucky Butler isn't here right now," Juliet said.

"Somehow I don't think this topic would have come up if Butler were here." Artemis Fowl Senior opened his eyes and looked over at the two teens in the aisle across from his. His face was stern but his eyes twinkled. "I hope you do not expect to continue it with Miss Dare."

"Of course not, Father," said Artemis Fowl the Second, his eyes still closed. "I'm sure the topic of conversation with Miss Dare will be exceedingly more intellectual and dull."

"Glad to hear it," Mr. Fowl said with a slight smile. He straightened in his seat and pulled the blanket off his shoulders. "We shall be landing soon. I would gather up my things if I were you."

Juliet unbuckled her seat belt and began to put away the various books, notepads, laptops, and pens that had been scattered across the jet during the long flight. Artemis continued to keep his eyes shut, listening absently as his Father instructed Juliet on security detail for once they landed. His mind was really back home with his mother and brothers and Butler. He really did wish his old friend and bodyguard was on this trip with him. Juliet was great and really good at her job, but she was new to being his personal bodyguard and honestly things got awkward sometimes. Artemis dreaded to think of what would happen if he was attacked in such a place as a restroom.

Still, there was really nothing he could do about it and so he had decided to make the most of it. Besides, Butler had requested personally that Artemis come to see Juliet as a competent bodyguard in her own right and not just a replacement for himself. Artemis was going to honor that request to the best of his ability.

Before long the plane touched down in New York. Little did Artemis know as he exited the private jet that his visit to New York would change his life in many, many ways.

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**I have some cool plans for this story, but I don't want to take the time to write it all down if no one is going to read it. ;P So if you want this story to continue, please review so I know people are reading it.**

**To motivate ya'll to review, I won't be posting another chapter until I get at least three reviews. ;)  
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	2. The Arrival and Meeting of Artemis

**A/N: Wow, I was not expecting so many reviews in such a short time! You guys are awesome! XD And so here is a new chapter much, much, much sooner than I intended it to be put up. Enjoy!**

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****Chapter 2/The Arrival and Meeting of Artemis**

The Dares were waiting for them on the tarmac when the jet landed. Mr. Dare greeted Mr. Fowl warmly, the two shaking hands and instantly talking about the latest golf tournament. That left Rachel Elizabeth, Artemis, and Juliet standing around awkwardly.

"It's quite the pleasure to see you again, Rachel Elizabeth," Artemis said after a moment, using her full name as he knew it irked her.

Sure enough an angry flush colored her cheeks, but instead of retaliating as usual, she just grinned slightly.

"Mutual I'm sure," she said without an ounce of sarcasm. Her eyes gleamed strangely.

Taken aback by her lack of hostility, Artemis was not entirely sure what to say or do next. Juliet saved him by stepping forward and greeting Rachel warmly. The two girls had not had much contact over the years and did not despise each other in the least. However Artemis could tell Rachel was surprised at her being there.

"Butler couldn't make it?" she asked, a tiny frown creasing her brow.

"His heart was acting up," Juliet explained.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear it."

Artemis was surprised to see that she really did appear sorry. And even somewhat confused. The confusion puzzled him, but before he could inquire about it, their fathers turned to them.

"Come along Rachel, let's escort the Fowls to their hotel room."

As they walked to the limousine parked on the tarmac, Rachel walked briskly in order to catch up with her father.

"Daddy," she began in an imploring tone. "I would so like my friends to meet Artemis. I've told them so much about him, and they all want to see him. Would you mind very much if I invited them to come with us to the show?"

Mr. Dare hesitated, having an idea that these friends included that Peter Johnson fellow who was always in the news for doing some such notorious thing, only to get out of it by coming up with some improbable excuse that everyone seemed to buy. He wanted his daughter to spend time with Artemis, hoping that they would grow fond of each other. He had yet to see this happen, but he still hoped.

"Well, I don't know sweetheart." He gave Mr. Fowl an apologetic smile. "This was supposed to be a special night for you and Artemis."

Rachel struggled hard not to gag. "But Daddy, it would be so much more fun if my friends were able to come too."

Artemis narrowed his eyes at Rachel, wondering what she was up to. He glanced over at Juliet and found that she looked just as perplexed.

"Well, I suppose they can come," Mr. Dare relented with a small sigh. "As long as they are on their best behavior."

"Oh thank you, Daddy! You won't regret this." Rachel's eyes gleamed again with that strange light as they all climbed into the limo. She immediately got on her cell phone and called a woman named Sally Jackson, talking animatedly as she turned away from Artemis and tuned out her father who was now starting to talk to Mr. Fowl about recent stock market prices.

Artemis felt left out and confused, two feelings he detested greatly. He had no idea what was going on and that was not good. A frown fell over his features as he listened hard to Rachel's side of the conversation. By the end of the drive he got that Rachel wanted Sally to send an IM message to a Percy, an Annabeth, and a Nico to tell them about the show and to come dressed formally. Then they spoke about a blowfish (which Artemis figured out was the last name of Sally's fiancé), and the topic turned to wedding plans. Artemis started to tune out of that part of the conversation when Rachel said something that made him sit up straighter.

". . . well, you can be assured Ms. Jackson that if any come to the wedding, Percy, Annabeth, Nico, and I will be prepared to take them down before they mess up anything. You should probably have a back up plan though, just in case any Kindly Ones show up. I doubt they will, since Nico is invited, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared."

She hung up a little while after that, just when they were pulling up to the hotel. Artemis stared at her. "Who are the Kindly Ones?" he asked abruptly as they all climbed out of the car.

Rachel looked sharply over at him, before glancing up at her father. Mr. Dare was now talking to Mr. Fowl about the hotel and its accommodations and high praise. She turned back to Artemis and Juliet and gave them a warning look.

"Don't mention the Kindly Ones in front of my dad," she told them both sternly.

"Why?" Artemis asked, not caring that he was being rude.

Rachel looked flustered for a moment. "I can't tell you right now. Later, I promise. But first you have to meet Percy, Annabeth, and Nico."

Artemis did not want to let the topic go, but he could see she was adamant about it. Promising himself he would ask later and not back down again, he sighed and looked pained.

"Must I?"

Juliet shot him a warning look. He ignored her, but Rachel ignored them both. Realizing he was not going to get any more answers to any of his questions, Artemis followed the men up to the Fowls' suite, greatly irritated.

* * *

Back at Camp Half-Blood, Percy had received the Iris-message from his mother telling him about the play and the formal wear. He grimaced and looked exasperated when he relayed the message to Annabeth and Nico.

"This means I'm going to have to wear a tux," he said mournfully. "It was bad enough when I had to wear one to go to that stupid dance."

"The one where you met me and Bianca?" Nico asked, looking not as upset as Percy thought he should look at the prospect of wearing a tuxedo.

He nodded at the question. "They make me itch," he added.

Annabeth looked amused. "I just hope we don't have to fight any monsters while in formal wear. That last time completely ruined my dress."

Percy winced at the memory of Annabeth falling to her not-quite-death-but-almost-just-as-bad. Sighing, he paced up and down the length of the porch of the Big House. "Just where am I supposed to get a tuxedo anyway?" he asked. "It's not like I have some lying around in my cabin."

"Borrow one from the Aphrodite cabin," Nico said with a smirk.

"That's what I was going to do," Annabeth said with a nod. "For a dress I mean, not a tux."

"Unless you want to go in drag," Nico said with another smirk.

Annabeth laughed and Percy flushed slightly at the mental image of Annabeth wearing a tuxedo: the pants and jacket hugging her newly acquired curves just so . . . he mentally smacked himself. After wondering for a moment who he was and what was he doing on the planet, he tuned back in to the conversation at hand.

". . . so it won't look so shaggy." Annabeth was saying.

"Who? What?" Percy asked, glancing at Nico and seeing the boy was grabbing his hair in a protective way.

"Don't let her touch my hair, Percy," he said with a scowl. "It's fine how it is."

Annabeth glanced at Percy. "You're in need of a haircut as well."

"Awwww, Annabeth," Percy groaned.

"Fine, don't listen to me. But don't complain to me when your mom starts griping about it."

"You're almost as bad as those Aphrodite girls," Nico grumbled.

Annabeth looked insulted for a moment. "Well excuse me for having a girl moment here. I _am_ a girl you know."

"Oh we know," Percy blurted out before he could stop himself. Then his face grew bright red and Nico started laughing.

Rolling her eyes, Annabeth moved down the steps of the porch. "I'm off to get some training in before tomorrow night. You guys should to." She started toward the arena, calling over her shoulder, "and don't forget to find some way to conceal your weapons for the show."

"You really think we'll get attacked in a place as crowded as Broadway?" Percy asked Nico.

The younger boy shrugged. "They attacked you in a crowded bus before," he pointed out.

"Oh yeah. Right."

Rolling his eyes at his cousin's forgetfulness, Nico jumped the steps of the porch, landing on his feet and taking off toward the Ares cabin. Percy watched him bemusedly.

"Where are _you_ going?" he called after him.

"To train with Clarisse!" Nico yelled back before he disappeared into the cabin.

"I guess I should train some too," Percy muttered to himself. He paused, wondering where to go. He did not want to go to the arena with Annabeth still there and the mental picture of her still lurking in the back of his mind ready to pounce out without a moment's notice. But then there was no way in Hades he was going to ask Clarisse to train with him. No matter how much the girl had changed, she was still brutal as heck in training.

In the end he trained with Connor and Travis Stoll from the Hermes Cabin and ended up almost missing curfew after the twins tricked him and tied him to a tree without his pants. He was cut down by a giggling Juniper, his cheeks and neck flaming hot. Unfortunately he did not have time to retaliate and had to endure hearing the story of the training session many times over before he went to the blessed silence of his cabin.

Except then he found he could not fall asleep for that was when the anxiousness crept in. Tomorrow would start Nico's first quest, and he was not entirely sure the boy would be able to handle it. The prophesy had said that the child of death would fall before the end of the quest, if he was not able to send his fear away. Percy had only a vague idea of what Nico was afraid of. And he was not sure any of them would be able to stand up to it.

When Percy did finally fall asleep, his dreams were plagued with nightmares. Needless to say, that did not help calm his nerves at all.

* * *

Rachel met Percy, Annabeth, and Nico outside the hotel while the Fowls and her father talked some business before the show. She grinned when she saw their outfits. Annabeth was wearing a pale pink strapless dress that hung to her calves, a white cardigan and white sandals accenting it. Her curls were down and Rachel thought she saw the tiniest bit of makeup. Obviously she had visited the Aphrodite cabin, as the Annabeth she knew would never wear makeup willingly. Nico and Percy were in tuxedos, both looking decidedly uncomfortable in them, although Nico seemed to be taking it better than Percy. Both boys' black hair was slicked back, and Nico had his sword at his side. Rachel knew that Riptide was most likely in Percy's pocket, and Annabeth's purse was large enough to fit several books, so it probably contained a short bow and quiver if not some other sort of weapon.

"You guys look fantastic," Rachel said with a grin.

"So do you," Annabeth said as kindly as she could. In reality she had to bite her tongue hard to keep from saying anything else. She knew Rachel and Percy could never be together, but there were moments like these, when Rachel was looking beautiful in a small black dress and heels, that she felt envious of her. Especially when Percy was staring so openly.

"Take a picture, buddy. It lasts longer," Nico muttered under his breath, which snapped a blushing Percy out of his daze. Annabeth gave Nico a grateful look that he avoided carefully.

Rachel toyed with her necklace. "They should be down any minute. I know it might be hard with Artemis being how he is, but try to be polite. At least a little bit. We're going to have to work closely with him, according to the prophesy."

"_We_?" Annabeth repeated with raised eyebrow.

Rachel blushed. "You, of course. That's what I meant."

Before anyone could say anything to slap away the growing tension, Mr. Dare, the Fowls, and Juliet exited the hotel and made their way to them. Mr. Dare simply nodded at the young people and directed the old Fowl up the sidewalk toward Broadway, which was a short distance from the hotel. Artemis adjusted his tie slightly and took a step toward Rachel and her friends. Glancing over them, he was decidedly unimpressed.

The teenage boy with black hair and green eyes looked stupid, or at least had some sort of attention disorder, for his eyes jerked all over the place. Either he was nervous, or ADHD. He looked to be around sixteen. The younger boy appeared to be more intelligent, although his demeanor was chilly and stand-offish. His dark eyes seemed slightly sunken in his thin face, and his fingers twitched on the hilt of a sword. That drew Artemis's attention immediately. Why would one bring a sword to Broadway? Especially to a musical like _Mamma Mia!_? The child looked to be just that, a child of around twelve.

The girl looked to be the most intelligent. Artemis was fixated briefly by her intense gray eyes that bore down on him with such shrewdness that he was reminded of his friend Minerva back home. This brought a thin smile to his lips, but he quickly erased it and assumed a bored attitude as he stepped up beside Rachel.

"Percy, Annabeth, Nico, this is Artemis Fowl," Rachel introduced. "Artemis, these are my friends."

Artemis inclined his head briefly. "Good evening," he said without enthusiasm. "It's nice to meet you."

If Artemis was unimpressed by the half-bloods, they were just as unimpressed with him. Percy wondered how such a thin boy could possibly help them on a quest this important. He looked pale and ill, almost like Nico did sometimes, but Percy knew Nico was powerful. This Artemis Fowl character looked as if he had not done one physically strenuous thing in his life. Annabeth did not like the boy's attitude. How he acted like he was much older than his fifteen years. She would have liked his accent, were he anyone else. An Irish brogue that would have sounded pleasant on anyone else, sounded only patronizing coming from Artemis Fowl.

It took him a moment, but when Nico was done with his perusal, he saw more than the others had. It was the eyes, he told himself. One was an intense blue; the other was a smoldering hazel. In those eyes, Nico could see that this teenager had been through more than he looked. There was intelligence there beyond his years. And they had seen death. Artemis Fowl II had tasted death more than once and had escaped by mere centimeters.

Nico knew why the Oracle had mentioned this Artemis Fowl, and he was confident that the boy would be able to help them.

Unfortunately it looked as though it would be a rocky companionship, what with the way they were all staring disdainfully at each other (excluding Percy who just looked confused, as always).

"You're just a kid," he stated the obvious.

"Excellent observation," Artemis said dryly. "Perhaps you'd like to inform us that the sky is indeed blue?"

Rachel looked reprovingly at Artemis, though seemed hardly surprised by his behavior. "This is Juliet Butler, by the way," she added, gesturing to the tall girl dressed in a black suit. She wore dark sunglasses and the way she stood behind Artemis showed plainly that she was his bodyguard.

"Aren't you a little young to be a bodyguard?" Annabeth asked, when she got no response, she turned quizzically to Rachel.

"She's on duty," Rachel explained. "But she's pretty cool. Unlike others I know." She rolled her eyes in Artemis's direction. He pretended to not see.

"I'm curious as to why you feel the need to carry a weapon to a Broadway show," Artemis said nonchalantly to Nico.

"To fend off monsters," Nico said flatly and got nudged rather sharply in the ribs by Percy.

Before Artemis could ask what he meant, Mr. Dare and Mr. Fowl realized the young people were not following them and called back for them to hurry it up. Rachel grabbed Percy's arm and led the way up the sidewalk. Nico hung back, letting Artemis and Juliet go on ahead of him. Artemis glanced over his shoulder surreptitiously and saw the child was watching the alleyways very carefully as they made their way toward Broadway.

"Keep an eye on that one," Artemis whispered to Juliet. "He's anxious about something, and I think it's connected to those Kindly Ones Rachel mentioned earlier."

Juliet nodded and fell back in step with Nico. The boy did not seem to notice but kept his hand firmly on the hilt of his sword. It remained there the entire trip to the theater which was made in complete, uncomfortable silence.

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**Once again, no updates until at least three reviews. I'm not worried though. XD Keep this up and it might be the fastest story I've ever written!**


	3. Mamma Mia! There's a Monster on Broadway

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! I'm afraid school caught up with me. However I made this one 1,000 more words than usual, so hopefully that makes up for the delay. =)  
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**To answer some questions: yes, Percy and Annabeth are a couple. And Artemis has several theories, but I am not smart enough to work them out into words that sound intelligent. =P**

**Oh, and I don't own anything relating to the musical _Mamma Mia!_ But then, you already knew that.  
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****Chapter 3/**_**Mamma Mia!**_** There's a Monster on Broadway**

They found their seats immediately and the show started soon after that. Just as Artemis had suspected, it bored him to tears. However he kept watching for one reason and one reason alone. The girl playing the lead was not human. At least, not like any human he had ever seen before. She hid them well, but one of her legs seemed to be made out of bronze, and the other looked like a donkey's leg. He found himself staring, fascinated.

Half-way through the first song, he heard a collective intake of breath next to him. Glancing over he saw that the other children seemed to have seen the lead character for what she was. Nico's words came to him suddenly. _To fend off monsters._

Whipping out his cell phone, Artemis accessed the internet, a fantastic theory forming in his brain: stringing together all the information he had collected since overhearing Rachel use the words "Kindly Ones." A patron of the theater glanced over at him and his phone and scowled.

"Cell phones are not permitted in the theater," he said crossly. "If you don't put that away, I'm going to have to call a theater attendant and have you thrown out. You're distracting the other members of the audience."

Artemis did not look up from his research, knowing the only thing distracting the other theater-goers was this man's obnoxious voice. "Juliet," he instructed calmly.

Juliet turned to the complaining patron. She said nothing, simply lowered her dark sunglasses and gave the man a cold look, her other hand straying toward her side as if to grab a weapon of some kind. The patron quickly backed down.

"Just make it quick," he muttered.

By this time Artemis had gathered the information he needed. He turned to Rachel and the others.

"Is it normal for your productions to star Empousai?" he asked.

Rachel's eyes widened and she sat up so quickly she almost bounced off her chair. "I _knew_ it!" she called out, causing several other members of the audience to shush her in annoyance.

"What should we do? Do you think it's after us?" Percy asked.

Annabeth gave him a withering look. "No Percy, it wanted a career on Broadway. Of course it's after us! It must have found out about our plans somehow . . ."

"We can't just run down there and kill it onstage," Rachel said, tapping her fingers on her armrest agitatedly. "The show wouldn't be able to go on. Unless . . ." She glanced over at Annabeth.

"Have you seen this play before?"

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Absolutely not. I'm not going to go down there and play Sophie. They probably have a regular understudy anyway."

"Not if it ate her," Percy muttered, peering down at the stage.

"Children," Artemis interrupted the discussion. "I believe your friend has taken matters into his own hand. And if he used a technological device to teleport down there, I want to see it."

"_What_?!"

Three pairs of startled eyes glanced at Nico's empty chair, then down at the stage where they could just see him hidden behind the curtains of the wings on stage right. The Empousa who was Sophie, finished her song and ran off the stage, right into Nico.

Percy leaped out of his chair and started pushing his way out of the aisle. Annabeth followed quickly. Rachel hesitated slightly, glancing over at Artemis. But he was already standing and gestured for her to get a move on, Juliet right behind him.

Together the five teens filed out of their row and toward the exit, ignoring the annoyed protests of several people.

"Where are you going?" called a confused Mr. Dare. He got no answer.

* * *

Nico had reacted instinctively. As soon as he recognized the Empousa, he bent the shadows around him and moved through them to the side of the stage. There were shadows everywhere so it was not difficult, although it did leave him somewhat weak and tired. It was because of this that he did not step away in time and Empousa-Sophie ran into him.

He managed to get a grip on her arm and swing her around so they were hidden from the view of the other actors who were scurrying on and off the stage.

"Let go of me; I'm going to miss my cue," Empousa-Sophie complained.

Nico drew his Stygian sword and Empousa-Sophie stopped wiggling. Her eyes narrowed and her voice lowered seductively.

"You're going to kill me, little Nico?" she murmured. "Son of Hades. The Ghost King." Reaching up, she touched his cheek lightly and revealed her fangs in a hungry smile. "So tasty. You'll be in for a nasty surprise soon. Why don't you just let me take a bite and then you won't have to deal with it, hmm? We'll both benefit from it." Bending her head forward swiftly, she licked his throat gently.

Nico reeled back with revulsion, swiping at his neck frantically. Empousa-Sophie advanced with a ravenous light in her eyes. In his sudden panic, Nico stumbled against a prop table. Brooms and rags and feather dusters fell to the ground, and he slipped, smacking his head against the corner of the table. His sword flew out of his hand. Dazed, he shook his head and reached for his sword, but a donkey hoof came down on his wrist, snapping the bones in a harsh twist.

He cried out in pain, a hazy mist clouding his vision. As he shouted however, a small fissure broke through the floor of the theater, a blazing orange and red glow casting a blood-colored veil over the darkened space. Through half-shut eyes, he could see Empousa-Sophie's face fall into a pout as she began to slip backwards into the fissure.

"Not nice. Could've waited for the finale." Then with a short scream she disappeared into the ground, the fissure closing up behind her.

Nico then fell back, darkness descending as he blinked slowly at the blurry figures of Percy, Annabeth, Rachel, and the new boy . . . Artemis. They were bending over him, Percy reaching out to grab his shoulder.

"Hang in there, Nico," he heard Percy say as though far away.

"His carpals seem to be broken," Artemis commented, frowning slightly at the boy's swelling wrist and then at the small crack in the tile.

"We need to get him out of here," Annabeth said, cradling Nico's head in her lap as his eyes fluttered closed and he lost unconsciousness.

Percy reached over and retrieved the Stygian blade. The sword felt ice cold and strange in his hand. He stared, fascinated and horrified, as his fingers began to slowly shrivel. Despite his immunity to all weapons, his hand seemed to be dying before his eyes. He dropped the sword hurriedly and his hand returned to its normal state. Frowning, he picked up one of the fallen rags and used it to pick up the weapon once more. Carefully, he slid it back into its sheath.

Juliet came forward then and bent, picking up Nico's small body easily. He really did need to gain some weight.

"Let's go to my hotel room," Artemis said. "And then you can tell me exactly how Empousa exist, how your friend teleported and what exactly are you, Rachel, trying to drag me into." He raised an eyebrow at the girl, who blushed slightly. "I have several theories that I'm sure will turn out to be correct, but I'd rather hear the entire story. From the beginning."

"Fine, we'll tell you everything," she said. "Let's just get out of here before they realize they don't have a Sophie for Act 2."

Everyone agreed and hurried out of the backstage area. The security guard that Juliet had knocked out was beginning to come around, but by the time he opened his eyes and sat up, the teens were long gone.

* * *

Back at the hotel, Juliet laid Nico carefully on the couch. Artemis took a seat on a wing-backed chair, crossing his legs and placing his hands deliberately on the armrests, staring at the half-bloods with an unreadable expression. Annabeth took a seat on the edge of the couch next to Nico, and Percy sat himself down on the small coffee table that stood between the couch and the chair. Rachel remained standing, tugging at a strand of her hair absently.

"I don't suppose we could IM Apollo and ask for the healing of a broken wrist," Percy said glumly.

"And by Apollo I assume you mean the Greek god of music, poetry, archery, healing, prophecy, and the sun," Artemis said flatly.

"How did—"

"Why don't you all simply inform me as to what exactly is going on and then let me decide for myself whether or not I want to help you in whatever mess you've gotten yourself into?"

The half-bloods exchanged a glance and then Rachel sighed, stepping forward and taking a seat next to Percy on the table. As Juliet and Annabeth bound up Nico's wrist, Rachel and Percy filled Artemis in. They told him about the Olympians, the Titans, the half-bloods, and Half-Blood Hill. They told him about the monsters and about the Mist. Then they told him about Nico's quest and the prophecy that mentioned a boy with eyes of two colors that was supposed to be able to help them.

Throughout it all Artemis remained impassive, nodding slightly to some things, and frowning slightly in thought to some others. When they were done there was a moment of silence as Artemis processed all this new information.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," Percy spoke up after a minute. "It took me awhile to believe it all."

"Oh, I believe it," Artemis said. "I'm just weighing my options. It does not seem I have much of a choice in the matter. I'm now in this as deep as you. That creature saw me with you and now that I know everything, I'm sure others have seen me as well."

"You believe us? Just like that?" Annabeth asked in surprise. "I thought for sure you would call us all crazy."

Artemis smiled vaguely. "I've been involved in things regular mortals would call 'crazy.' I'm actually very well acquainted with the abnormal."

Annabeth was not entirely sure she wanted to ask what he meant. Instead she turned to Nico and frowned. "He should be awake by now," she said softly in concern. "The wrist was not that bad."

"He's probably suffered a concussion," Artemis supplied. "He was on the ground when we arrived. He most likely fell and either hit his head on the table beside him or the floor with enough force to render him unconscious immediately. In a regular hospital this would call for an MRI."

Percy looked agitated. "Oh great. I'm so glad we thought to bring one of those along with us." He ran his hand through his hair, somewhat annoyed that Artemis did not appear more worried. But then again the teen barely knew them.

"I'm going to IM Apollo," Percy said suddenly, standing. "This is Nico's quest and we can't have him unconscious for the whole thing. Besides, Apollo might be willing to help since it's his sister we're trying to find."

Annabeth nodded encouragingly. Percy smiled at that before leaving to go to the bathroom, squeezing her shoulder lightly as he passed.

"So why do you think an Empousa auditioned for a Broadway musical? If it was after us, I don't think it would have gone to such lengths to go undercover. Rehearsals for Broadway are brutal." Rachel glanced over at Artemis, sure that after all he had said, he had a theory.

"I can't presume to understand the Empousa mind, but I get the feeling it was not there to kill you. Or anyone for that matter. At least not in an assassination. Perhaps in a meal."

"Why do you say that?" Annabeth asked curiously, leaning forward attentively.

"Several reasons. First, it did kill Nico immediately. We all saw it run right into him. It could have eliminated him instantly, but it didn't. Second, it did not put up much of a fight. And lastly, it seemed genuinely surprised to see us there. I could see it in its eyes as it fell back into the pit."

"Okay, so it wasn't there to kill us. Still, I think it's extremely weird that an Empousa would try out for a musical."

"We had them as cheerleaders," Rachel pointed out. "Back at the Academy."

"Yes, but they were after Percy," Annabeth reminded her.

Before anyone could make any more assumptions, Percy came out of the bathroom, a tall handsome man behind him. He practically swaggered across the room and grinned at all those present. His smile dazzled everyone in the room to near blindness, and his hair was gelled back in a way that made him look like an unbelievably good-looking greaser.

"_Good evening to all  
I know you're glad to see me.  
No touchin' the hair."_

With that horrible haiku which made Artemis look rather ill and Rachel roll her eyes, Apollo stooped beside the couch. He glanced over at Annabeth and chucked her under the chin lightly.

"How you doing, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Fine. Thanks. Can you help Nico?" Annabeth said, a little flustered by being so close to the god. Percy bent down quickly and pulled Annabeth away from the couch.

"Yep. This kid hit his head hard. Must have been a doozy. Probably would have caused brain damage if the doctor wasn't as good as me. Which we all know he wouldn't be. And that wrist looks mighty painful. I'm in a benevolent mood so I'll heal both. Besides, he's gotta find my sister, right? Can't do that when he's speaking backwards or something. Although that would make some interesting poetry right there." He grinned again but this time it looked more forced than sincere. Laying one hand on Nico's brow and the other on his bound wrist, the god focused on healing the boy.

Annabeth turned to Percy. "How did you get him to come?" she whispered.

Percy shrugged. "Just reminded him that it was Nico's quest, and if he ever wanted to see his sister again he would help us."

Annabeth shook her head slightly. "Sometimes your audacity amazes me, Percy," she said with a slight sigh.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

Artemis was staring at Apollo. After the god was done, he stood to his feet and glanced over at the teen. He grinned and winked slightly.

"Named after my sister, huh?" he asked. "Never really saw it as a boy's name, but hey. I'll give your parents points for creativity. Be a good boy now and help out these nice demigods. If you make it through alive you'll probably be greatly rewarded."

Artemis swallowed hard and was somehow at a loss for words. Juliet was also staring at the god, although for reasons different than Artemis's. When the god winked at _her_, she blushed faintly.

"Your friend should wake up in a couple minutes," Apollo said to Percy. "You'd better watch him. I don't want you calling me to bring him back from the dead or something ridiculous like that. And you'd _better_ find my sister."

"We will," Percy said firmly.

"_And now I must go__  
Try not to cry as I do.  
Cuz I'm so awesome."_

Leaving everyone wincing from that dreadful haiku, Apollo straightened and began to glow.

"Look away!" Rachel called out to Artemis and Juliet, adverting her gaze.

The room was filled with a brilliant light, and then it was gone, taking Apollo with it. Nico sat up slowly, twisting his wrist around slowly, experimentally. Blinking rapidly, he looked around at the others in the room.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Dude, you totally wiped out after you sent that Empousa to the Underworld, and I had to get Apollo down here to heal you."

Nico blushed slightly. "She caught me by surprise," he said. "I shouldn't have let her get to me like that."

"What did she say?" Annabeth asked.

His blush deepened, and he rubbed hard at a spot on his neck. For as ugly as Empousa are, they were really good at shifting their appearance to look very beautiful. And Empousa-Sophie had. The entire confrontation was embarrassing to think about. However something nagged at him about the whole ordeal.

"She wasn't there for me. For us. I don't think she even knew we were there."

"I know, we were just discussing that," Rachel said with a glance at Artemis.

"But she said something," Nico went on. "Something about me being in for a nasty surprise. But she didn't say anything else about it. She recognized me though. I know that for sure. She said my name."

"So she _did_ know something," Percy said slowly.

"Unfortunately you killed her before you were able to extract any information," Artemis observed wryly.

Nico scowled. "I was a little busy," he snapped.

"Yes. I suppose it is hard to interrogate your attacker when you're on the losing side of a battle."

Nico flushed and stood quickly, fists clenched as though he were going to attack the teen sitting mildly in his chair. Juliet stepped forward quickly, frowning warningly.

"Nico, stop," Annabeth said sharply, stepping forward and placing her hand on his shoulder lightly. "We're all confused and anxious here," she said, obviously speaking more of the half-bloods and Rachel than Artemis. "Let's just calm down."

Slowly Nico sat back down on the couch, relaxing slightly under Annabeth's touch, but never taking his glare off of Artemis.

"I think we've had enough excitement for one day," Artemis said after a brief pause. "I'm going to think over this quest of yours and I'll inform you of my decision tomorrow. In the meantime, goodnight." Standing, he made his way toward his room. Just as the door closed behind him, the front door of the hotel room opened and Mr. Dare and Mr. Fowl strode in, both looking harried and upset.

The half-bloods and Rachel exchanged a knowing look. Thus followed quiet a chewing out and they were all sent to bed without supper. This was fine with them, for as soon as the men went to bed, Nico ordered room service and snuck outside to retrieve it when it arrived. The teleportation made him tired, and he fell asleep without eating much. Since he shared the room with Percy and the girls had the other room, Percy decided to go to sleep as well.

In the girl's room however, Annabeth and Rachel stayed up late into the night, discussing the prophecy and events of the day over pizza and club sandwiches. The main thought on their minds however, was whether or not Artemis would agree to help them. And, when he did, if they would be able to cooperate long enough to make a plan and carry it out to full effectiveness.

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**Apollo was way too much fun to write, hehe. At least three reviews and you'll get a new chapter! Hopefully within the next day or so. =)**


	4. Complications

**A/N: Again, sorry for the delay. I had the first part of this written up, and then I had a crazy weekend. But, again, this is longer than I usually write my chapters so, yay!**

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****Chapter 4/Complications**

When Artemis awoke the next morning there was a mouse in his bed. Only it was not a complete mouse, only the skeleton. It lay in a heap near his head. Pulling back with a look of disgust, he wondered how it had gotten there. He grabbed a wad of tissue and reached over to brush it off the sheet. He anticipated a simple sweep of his hand would do the trick, but suddenly the skeleton moved. With a small cry of surprise, Artemis fell back, scrambling off the bed as the skeletal mouse crawled toward him. Grabbing the lamp that was on the bedside table, he smashed it down on the mouse, crushing the bones.

He stood there for a minute, thinking hard. Then he tightened his jaw and stalked out of the room. Percy, Annabeth, Rachel, and the men were still asleep, but Nico and Juliet were at the table that sat in the small kitchen area. Juliet was pouring milk in a glass for Nico and the demigod was eating pancakes. Artemis stepped up and frowned slightly at the boy.

"There was a live skeleton of a mouse in my bed this morning," he said flatly. "I'm curious as to how it got there."

Nico did not look up from his breakfast. "Could've been just your imagination," he said coolly.

"My mind is not inclined to just imagine things," Artemis replied with stiff politeness. "Rachel told me last night that you are the son of Hades. This gives you command over the dead, does it not?"

"So what if it does?" Nico asked, looking up finally with a frown.

"Why did you put the skeleton mouse in my bed?"

"Who said _I_ put it there?"

"You are the only logical conclusion."

Nico's frown darkened. "Well, it wasn't me."

Artemis was not convinced. "Who then?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"It did not animate itself," Artemis said with a patronizing look. He spoke slowly, as though speaking to a slow child. "Percy and Annabeth cannot control the dead. You, however, can. Therefore you are the one responsible."

Nico flushed. "You're crazy!" he snapped, standing abruptly. The table rattled and Juliet swiftly reached over to catch the glass before it fell over. She gave Artemis a warning look, but if he saw it he did not acknowledge her.

"I'm simply stating the facts," Artemis said, growing somewhat impatient now. "I know what it is I saw."

"Yeah, well, maybe your head is screwy," Nico shot back angrily. "I didn't put a mouse in your bed."

"Do you presume to call me a liar?" Artemis asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing Nico could not know that Artemis had indeed lied more than a few times in his lifetime. However, Artemis was not lying now and that was what mattered.

"No, I _presume_ to call you insane," Nico said, throwing his hands up in the air. "I don't care what you _think_ you saw. I didn't put anything in your bed. But now I wish I had." With a scowl he stormed off to the room he shared with Percy, slamming the door behind him.

Artemis could not believe he had just been baited into an argument with a twelve-year-old. He sighed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as if fighting off a bad headache. When he opened his eyes, Annabeth was watching him from the doorway of her and Rachel's room. She did not look happy.

"That was a bad move," she told him matter-a-factly. "It's not good to get Nico angry at you. Holding grudges is his fatal flaw."

Before Artemis could respond, the door Nico had just closed opened again, and Percy flew out of the room, the door slamming shut again after him. Annabeth hurried to help him up, blushing slightly at his half-naked state as he was only wearing pajama bottoms. He looked perplexed.

"What's wrong with Nico?" he asked. "I just said good morning, and he threw me out of the room."

"Ask Artemis," Annabeth said with a frown in the teen's direction. Percy glanced over.

"Nice PJs," he said with a smirk. "Very chic."

Artemis did not look down at his silk pinstripe pajamas with the monogrammed breast pocket. "Thank you," he said tonelessly. "Yours are very . . . amusing."

Percy flushed slightly as he glanced down at the pajama flannel pants that depicted hundreds of little seahorses playing around in bubbles. Looking away quickly, he turned to Annabeth. "So what_ was_ that all about?" Percy asked, running a hand through his unruly black hair.

"I awoke to find the skeleton of a mouse in my bed," Artemis explained. "I assumed it was di Angelo who had placed it there. He denies it."

Percy looked surprised. "Why would he want to put a skeleton mouse in your bed?" he asked.

"Possibly because I insulted his fighting methods of last night. Or really the lack thereof."

Percy nodded slowly but did not speak, looking thoughtful. Rachel opened the door of the room she shared with Annabeth and poked her head out, her red hair unkempt and bushy. She frowned at the gathering in front of the room. "If we're all up shouldn't we start looking for that guy who insulted Lady Artemis and challenged her?"

"Yes," Annabeth said quickly. "Let's all get dressed and then we'll convene again at the kitchen table to work out a plan."

Rachel nodded and disappeared behind the door. Annabeth turned to follow but Percy grabbed her arm. "What am I going to do?" he asked, his eyes wide.

Annabeth looked perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean—I can't—Nico's all moody and my clothes . . ."

Artemis resisted the urge to roll his eyes and sighed despairingly. Not wanting to get caught in the middle of _this_ conversation, he returned to his room to change into some proper clothes. Annabeth, in the meantime, stared at Percy as if he had just grown a third nostril.

"What are you babbling about? Just go in, get changed, and get out. Honestly Percy, it's not that hard."

"What if he won't let me in?" Percy asked, looking nervously at the door, obviously not eager to face Nico again after their little confrontation.

Annabeth sighed. "He's probably not even in there. He probably shadow-traveled somewhere to sulk. Stop being such a baby."

She shook Percy's hand off her arm and vanished into her room. Percy swallowed hard and glanced at the door to the room he shared with Nico. It felt somewhat silly to be afraid of a twelve-year-old boy, but Nico could be very scary when he wanted to be, and Percy did not feel like battling any hellhounds or zombies half-naked and without Riptide. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped inside, hoping Annabeth was right.

Nico was in the room, but instead of turning on him in a rage like Percy expected, he remained where he was. He was seated on the edge of his bed, facing the wall, his back toward Percy. Nothing moved. Percy stepped toward the dresser where a bellhop had put the half-blood's suitcases while they were at the theatre. Chiron had sent them, probably figuring they would not be back to pick up their things after the show. Aside from a slight chill in the air, everything in the room was as it should be. No signs of any kind of tantrum. Nico did not look up the entire time Percy changed into normal street clothes and put Riptide in his pocket.

The silence unnerved Percy. He knew he could not stay silent forever, so he went up and tapped Nico lightly on the shoulder, pulling away quickly just in case the boy exploded from suppressed anger. Nothing happened. Percy frowned and sat down next to the boy. Looking down, he noticed Nico was fingering the Hades figurine Bianca had found in the god's junkyard.

"Hey," Percy said, clearing his throat. "You okay?"

"I didn't put that skeleton in Artemis's bed" came the abrupt answer. Nico kept his head down, eyes fixed on the figurine.

"I believe you," Percy said automatically. Really he thought it was unlikely anyone _else_ could have done it, but he also thought Nico was telling the truth. Which was weird.

Nico's head jerked slightly at this and he slowly glanced sidelong at Percy. "You do?" he asked skeptically, his brow furrowed beneath his black hair.

Percy nodded. "Sure. I mean, I didn't hear you get up last night after we went to bed so how could you have done it?"

A flicker of a smile crossed over Nico's face as they both knew Percy slept pretty deeply on a normal basis. But he raised his head higher and did not look as dejected as before.

"Does Annabeth believe me?" he asked after a moment.

"What?" Percy asked, surprised.

Nico shook his head and looked over at the window. "Never mind."

Percy thought he saw a faint blush color the pale boy's cheeks but quickly figured he had just imagined it since it was gone as soon as it appeared. Nico stood and glanced over at Percy, pocketing the figurine. He frowned again, this time in deep thought.

"Percy," he said slowly. "When you dream things . . . they're happening as you dream them. Right?"

Percy was again surprised, wondering what that had to do with anything. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, that's usually what the dreams usually end up being about. Things going on somewhere else but at the same time as I'm dreaming them. Kinda like live television. Only a lot cooler and scarier."

Nico was silent for a moment, walking over to where his stygian sword lay on the dresser. Picking up his belt and sheath, he put them on slowly before picking up the sword and staring at it for a moment. "Did you have a dream last night?"

"No," Percy said.

There was a long pause as Nico continued to stare at his sword. The chill in the air grew colder, Percy noticed.

"Why do you ask?" Percy asked finally.

Nico slid the sword into the sheath and turned back to Percy. The chill instantly lessened and Nico gave him a thin smile. "Just curious," he said lightly. But the troubled look in his eyes did not go away, and Percy knew he was lying. Before he could say anything however, an impatient knock sounded at the door.

"You two ever coming out?" Annabeth called. "We're all waiting for you."

"We'll be right out!" Percy called back, standing. He turned back to Nico. "Look Nico—"

But before he could continue, Nico disappeared, a shadow swallowing him up and transporting him elsewhere. Sighing, Percy used the conventional way of traveling and walked out of the room via the door. When he arrived at the kitchen table, Annabeth, Rachel, Artemis, Nico, and Juliet were already there. Mr. Dare and Mr. Fowl were awake now and were discussing business over tea on the hotel's balcony. The glass doors separating them were closed and none of the teens could hear the adult's conversation. This meant they could talk freely.

Percy noticed Nico and Artemis were sitting as far away from each other as they could get. Artemis was ignoring the younger boy as he listened to Rachel who was talking animatedly, using her hands. His mask of faint boredom was on, so it was hard to tell if he was really interested in the one-sided conversation or not. He had changed into a suit similar to the one he had been wearing the previous night. Percy wondered if he ever wore normal kid clothes. Nico was glaring over at Artemis and only stopped when Annabeth kicked him underneath the table.

Percy sat down between Annabeth and Rachel, across from Juliet, who looked more relaxed than she had the last night. When her eyes met his, she grinned faintly. Slightly flustered at the unexpected attention, Percy looked over at Rachel who had stopped talking by now.

"Rachel and I did some research last night," Annabeth explained once she saw everyone was paying attention. "Apparently some guy by the name of Roger Hamilton posted flyers for an archery challenge to be held at his warehouse. He sells crossbows and such weapons. He boasted on his website that he had skills to rival even the great goddess Artemis, if she existed. Now, the competition was supposed to be held on a Monday, two weeks ago. He said he would update his website with the results of the contest and a list of the winners. The website was never updated."

"Was he a monster?" Nico asked. "He could have kidnapped her as soon as she arrived and that's why it wasn't updated. The whole thing was a set-up from the beginning."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "And how did you come to that conclusion?" he asked with obvious contempt at the idea.

Nico flushed angrily. "I'd like to see _you_ offer a better explanation," he shot back hotly.

Artemis shrugged. "If you remember the story of Arachne, Athena turned the poor girl into a spider after she hung herself when Athena made her feel guilty about depicting the errors and poor judgment of the gods in her weavings. There's a possibility the same happened here. To use the old cliché: history repeats itself."

Nico snorted, but did not contradict him. It made sense, Percy thought. Only . . .

"Then how did she go missing?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Nico jumped in, quick to challenge Artemis. The teen stared back at them with his unnerving, two colored eyes and looked amused.

"Perhaps her disappearance is something completely unrelated. Have any of you considered that? Who do you know who might harbor hard feelings toward Artemis? He or she might have used this competition as a cover."

Automatically, Rachel, Annabeth, and Percy glanced over at Nico. He noticed and scowled.

"You think I'd kidnap her, only to then go on a quest to get her back? I'm not stupid. I may not like her very much, but I would never try to kidnap a goddess. That's suicide."

Annabeth nodded quickly. "Of course we don't think you did it," she said. She nudged Percy.

"Of course not," he said, and would have said so anyway even without the nudge.

"We're just trying to be objective and look at all the angles," Rachel said gently.

"Yeah, I know," Nico muttered, but he did not look entirely convinced they had ruled him out as a suspect. He ducked his head but glanced at them all suspiciously from underneath his long, dark eyelashes.

Artemis watched the exchange curiously. "You'll have to tell me this story on our way to the warehouse," he said, standing.

"Whoa, wait." Percy said, standing as well. "What do you mean 'on our way to the warehouse'?"

Artemis stared at him with slight incredulity. "Are you trying to be funny?" he asked. He glanced over at Juliet who nodded and stood, walking over to the glass doors and sliding them open.

"Master Artemis wishes to attend a gallery opening," she told the men sitting there. "And he asks if Rachel and her friends could come along as well."

Mr. Fowl glanced over at Mr. Dare. "It's alright with me. William?"

Mr. Dare nodded. "That's fine, Juliet. Just have them back before dark."

"Yes, sir," Juliet said, sliding the glass doors shut and turning back to the table. She nodded to Artemis. "We're free to go, Master Artemis."

"We're going to the warehouse," Artemis explained as he retrieved his coat that was slung over the back of the chair he had sat in the night before. "In order to investigate this man Roger Hamilton. We will know for sure whether or not he has taken Lady Artemis once we do. It should not be difficult to get the information we seek."

The half-bloods exchanged glances and Rachel did not look entirely convinced it could be that easy, but they all stood and followed Artemis's lead. Annabeth dashed off to her room to retrieve her Yankees cap of invisibility and bronze dagger. Rachel packed her laptop and some money into a backpack, while Juliet packed food into another. Percy had Riptide so he did not have anything else to grab. Nico pushed his fingers into his pocket, as if to make sure the figurine of Hades was still there. When he saw Percy watching, he quickly drew out his hand and looked the other way, resting the hand on the stygian sword's hilt instead. Walking briskly into their room, Nico slipped on his aviator's jacket. Before Percy turned away, he saw Nico also grab his skull ring and slip it onto his finger.

In a few moments the teens were gathered in the front room, ready to go. Artemis smiled faintly.

"Let us proceed," he said, and nodded to Juliet, who drew car keys out of her pocket. Mr. Dare's keys to the limonene

On the way down to the garage, Annabeth fell into step beside Percy. She reached out and took his hand. Percy squeezed it slightly. She smiled up at him faintly, but then frowned.

"Percy," she said softly so the others could not hear her. "The prophecy said that 'the child of death' will lead the quest. So far it looks like Artemis is doing all the leading. Shouldn't we do something about that?" She sounded worried.

Percy honestly had not even thought about that. He tried his best to recall the entire prophecy from the beginning. "Well, but didn't it also say that 'eyes of two colors shall see things through'? Isn't that the same as leading, kind of?"

"I thought it meant see things through the Mist. Artemis seems to be able to see the Monsters almost as well as Rachel."

Percy shrugged. "Things seem to be falling into place with Artemis leading. And it takes some stress off of Nico."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "I'm not so sure about _that_," she said, glancing over at the youngest member of the team, his eyes focused on the ground before him as he walked. "Do you think he put the mouse in Artemis's bed?"

Percy sighed. "Honestly, I have no idea. I think Nico is telling the truth when he said he didn't, but how else would you explain it?"

Annabeth frowned thoughtfully. "Things are getting complicated here," she complained softly.

Percy grinned. "But that's what makes it fun, right? And anyway, you'll find a way to figure everything out. You are the daughter of Athena after all."

She grinned back. "Right," she said. But she could not help but glance once more at Nico and look concernedly at the way he looked at Artemis. With veiled hatred that could easily explain a skeletal mouse hidden beneath bed sheets. Complications had arisen for sure, but Annabeth was not entirely sure she would be able to figure things out in time to help him. The Oracle had said he would fall before the end if he did not send away his fear. Fear led to anger and hatred, she reasoned. So was Nico afraid of Artemis? She did not know why he would be, but there was a nagging feeling in her that she was missing something important.

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**Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuun! =P Just felt like adding some dramatic music there. Remember, third time's a charm! So three reviews (or more) is like, double that. XD Oh, and just because there's already 3 reviews, doesn't mean you can't review too! The more reviews I get, the faster the chapter is most likely to go up!  
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	5. Roger Hamilton's A&W Warehouse

**A/N: Ugh, I really don't like this chapter. I feel like it came out all wrong, and it's shorter than the rest of the chapters. But I couldn't figure what else to write and thought you all had been waiting long enough so here's the next chapter.**

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****Chapter 5/Roger Hamilton's Archery and Weapons Warehouse**

When they arrived at the warehouse, Artemis led the way into the warehouse. The guy who met them was middle-aged and hefty. He looked up from a gun magazine he was reading as the teens came through the front and regarded them suspiciously.

"I don't sell to kids," he called to them before they approached. "So you'd better scram before I call the cops."

Percy clenched his hands instinctively, the man's attitude and words reminding him keenly or Smelly Gabe. Annabeth reached over and wormed her hand into his fist, looking up at him with concern in her eyes. At her touch, Percy relaxed slightly, even allowing a small grin to curl the corners of his mouth.

Artemis stepped forward, looking self-important and arrogant. "My name is Artemis," he declared purposefully, and waited.

The man frowned slightly. "I don't care what your name is, if you're not 18 or older you don't buy a weapon."

"That name doesn't sound familiar?" Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Should it?" the man asked, frowning.

"Is your name not Roger Hamilton?" Annabeth asked, stepping forward, bringing Percy with her.

"Yeah, so?" the man, Roger Hamilton, said. "What's it to you?"

"Did you not boast you could best the goddess Artemis in an archery contest?" Rachel asked, frowning back at the man.

"Yeah," Hamilton said with a shrug. "So what?"

"So, did you have a contest here or not?" Percy asked, getting slightly annoyed with the man's answers. Getting information from Hamilton was more difficult than trying to take a peanut butter sandwich from Tyson.

"Yeah I had a contest," Hamilton said. "Beat every person who showed up too."

Artemis stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So the Lady Artemis did not show up," he mused aloud.

"Of course not," Hamilton said with a snort. "She's just a myth."

Thunder boomed overhead. Nico scowled, stepping forward and drawing forth his stygian blade. Hamilton's eyes widened as the boy pointed it up at his face. "Do you have Lady Artemis here or not?" he demanded, his dark eyes smoldering.

The man gulped. "Of course I don't! What are you crazy? Put that thing down, kid." His hand groped underneath the counter for the silent alarm. Nico caught the movement and quick as a flash he had leaped over the counter and was standing on the other side, smacking Hamilton's hand away from the button with the flat of his blade. The man howled and grabbed at his hand, which now had a dark spot, as if the skin had died when the blade had touched it.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Hamilton howled, glaring furiously at the boy.

"You're lying!" Nico cried, swinging his sword up as if to drive it through the man.

"No, he isn't," Artemis said calmly, and Nico faltered, glancing over at the teen. In that moment, Hamilton charged, knocking Nico's sword hand away and grabbing the boy by the front of his shirt, lifting him up so he could scowl into Nico's dark, angry eyes.

"Get out of my store kid," he growled threateningly. "Before I call the police down on you punks." He shoved Nico back over the counter, where he fell with a thud on the ground, stunned but unhurt, his sword by his side.

Percy and Annabeth hurried forward to help him up. He pulled away from their hands and shoved his sword back into its sheath. Artemis inclined his head respectfully to Hamilton.

"I beg your forgiveness," he said diplomatically. "The boy can be hot-headed sometimes. He has a mental condition." Nico shot a look of pure hatred in Artemis's direction. The teen did not appear to notice, keeping his eyes on the irritated man in front of them. "We're looking for our friend, a girl also named Artemis."

"She would be about twelve years old," Rachel put in. "With brown hair and a quiver on her back."

"If you've seen such a girl, we would love to hear what you have to say," Artemis said, drawing out his wallet. "We'd pay for the information, of course." He opened the brown, finely lined leather wallet and drew out a crisp, one-hundred dollar bill. He laid it on the counter and pushed it slowly across to the man. "Any information you have," he added encouragingly.

Hamilton appeared undecided for a moment, before snatching up the bill and stuffing it into his pocket. He leaned across the counter and addressed Artemis directly. "There was a girl like that in here," he said in a low, conspiratorial tone. "She was admiring my crossbows over there" he pointed to said crossbows "and I told her about my rule. She said she was just looking but had come for the contest. Now see I thought that had to be a mistake. A girl like her against all the hunters that had come in? I offered to call her parents, but she told me not to. I went back to my regular costumers then, before setting things up for the contest.

"When the thing started, I looked for her but she was gone. I'd figured she'd just gone home." He shrugged. "Never thought about her again until just now."

Artemis studied the man shrewdly. As he contemplated Hamilton's words, Percy drew Nico aside, placing a firm hand on the younger boy's shoulder and trying his best to look stern.

"Listen man, you've got to calm down," he said. "I know that it sounds weird, especially coming from me, but now's not the time to freak out. I mean, this isn't even like you. I'm usually the one doing stupid, impulsive things. Well, you've done some pretty stupid, impulsive things too, but that's not the point."

Nico stared. "You're rambling, Percy," he said.

"I know. Shut up." Percy was frustrated. He tried hard to find the words to get across what he was trying to say, but it was getting all mixed up in his head. Nico grinned faintly, which just increased Percy's frustration.

"Look," he tried again. "I know you and Artemis don't really see eye-to-eye." The grin faded from Nico's lips, replaced quickly with a scowl and a snort. "But," Percy continued. "You've got to learn to work together or this won't work."

"But that's the problem, Percy," Nico put in hotly. "He's not working together with us. He's completely taken over! I thought this was _my_ quest. Now some _human_ comes in and takes charge like he was the one the Oracle talked to. As if the Oracle would pick such a puny human to go on a quest." Nico sneered in such a nasty way that Percy took an automatic step back, looking down at his cousin in surprise.

"Nico," he said slowly. "You say 'human' like you're not one yourself."

Nico started, looking surprised himself, as if he did not know why those words had come out of his mouth. "That's because we're not, Percy," he said after a moment, trying to save-face. "I mean, we're only _half-_human."

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't act any _less_ human," Percy said pointedly, watching his cousin carefully.

Nico's expression softened. He turned his face toward the ground, his cheeks reddening slightly. Percy felt suddenly bad for saying anything in the first place. He clapped the younger boy on the shoulder.

"Hey," he said lightly, trying to cheer up the mood. "I don't care if you put a hundred dead mice in Artemis's bed, just don't think he's no good to us, because he is. If the Oracle said we need his help, we're going to need his help."

Nico looked up slowly, studying Percy with a frown. "I thought you said you believed that I didn't put that mouse in his bed."

Now it was Percy's turn to blush. Before he could answer though, Annabeth called over to them. With a quick glance back at Nico, who was looking scarily thoughtful, Percy walked back over to Annabeth and the others. He avoided Annabeth's probing eyes, and focused instead on what Artemis was saying.

". . . And if you see anything else, be sure to call. I'll make it worth your while." The teen turned to Rachel, Juliet, and the half-bloods. "Let's go."

They started for the door and were halfway there when Nico grabbed Artemis's arm. "Wait, how do we know that guy isn't a monster?"

Artemis looked down at the hand holding him in distaste. "Because I know," he said, shrugging his arm away and brushing off the sleeve.

"And that's all that matters," Nico finished the statement with a frown.

"We cannot afford to waste any more time here," Artemis insisted.

"We should check anyway," Nico shot back.

Before anyone could react, he had reached over and plucked Riptide out of Percy's pocket, uncapping the sword before turning and striding back toward Hamilton. Percy yelped and leaped after him, tackling him to the ground.

"You kids stop messing around and get out of here," Hamilton shouted in their direction.

"We're very sorry sir," Rachel yelled back as Juliet helped Percy drag Nico out the door. "We're going now!"

"What's your problem?" Percy asked Nico once they were all outside and by the limo.

"What's _your_ problem?" Nico shot back angrily. "Why do we always have to listen to Artemis? Since when do we listen to everything a _human_ says?"

"Hey!" Rachel said indignantly.

"He's _helping_ us," Percy said. "We're going to _have_ to listen to him until we can see this thing through!"

"Why, huh? Why do we have to listen to him? Because the Oracle said so? Well screw that. He's not the leader of this quest. _I_ am. So why don't any of you listen to what _I_ think, and what _I_ want to do?" Nico's face was red and his dark eyes blazed.

"I believe this is why," Artemis said, slightly amused.

Nico turned on him. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Your attitude is completely immature," Artemis stated factually. "You're being unreasonable and rash. If we were all to listen to you, I'm afraid your tactics would conclude with most of us being incapacitated in one form or another."

Nico gave a cry of frustration and turned away, stomping up the sidewalk. Annabeth hurried forward. "Nico wait!" she shouted after him. Surprisingly, he hesitated. For a moment Rachel, Percy, and Annabeth held their breath, hoping he would turn around and come back. But then he kept walking, turning the corner out of sight.

"Nice," Percy said, running a hand agitatedly through his hair.

"Should we go after him?" Annabeth asked, turning to look at the others.

"Go if you must," Artemis said with a look that implied he would much rather they all left right now and let Nico fend for himself. "Juliet and I will wait in the car."

The demigods and Rachel had barely taken a couple steps toward the corner, when a loud shout was heard and then Nico came back down the sidewalk, being shoved from behind by a tall, black haired girl with striking blue eyes.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried, running toward her friend with a wide smile.

Thalia Grace stopped shoving Nico forward in order to embrace Annabeth, a grin lighting up her eyes. Percy approached more slowly and accepted Thalia's hug awkwardly, aware suddenly of a dozen pairs of eyes watching from behind Thalia as her Hunters of Artemis came into view. Nico stood to the side, still scowling.

"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked after she had given and received the greeting.

"I came to make sure Nico here was keeping up with his quest to find Lady Artemis," Thalia said. She looked over at Nico pointedly. "Apparently it's a good thing I did. You weren't going to leave the quest, were you Nico?"

Nico snot her a look. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't, when _Master_ Artemis over there feels just fine about calling all the shots." He shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Because the Oracle told _you_ to lead," Thalia said. "And you can't let Lady Artemis down. You know how much trouble that will cause."

He just tightened his jaw and looked away. Thalia turned to Percy and Annabeth. "Anyway, we came to help." She gestured to the Hunters behind her. "I know the Oracle didn't say anything about us, but we aren't about to let some monster freak keep our Lady away from us. I thought we could split up, cover more ground that way, keep in touch with IMs."

Percy nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. At this point we could use all the help we could get."

"We need to find out about all those men who participated in Hamilton's competition," Annabeth said. "One of them has to be our guy."

"Did this Hamilton guy tell you all who competed?" Thalia asked, looking from one to the other.

Percy shrugged, looking over at Annabeth and Rachel. They both nodded.

"Artemis made sure to ask for it," Rachel said, grudgingly thinking that Artemis was doing a pretty good job with this quest. So far at least.

"We should go back to the hotel and look them up on either my laptop or Artemis's," Annabeth said.

"I'll come with you," Thalia said, adjusting the strap of her quiver on her shoulder. She looked over at her Hunters who were still silently watching. She spoke to them quickly in Ancient Greek and they dispersed, save for two who stepped up next to Thalia.

"This is Alyssa and Hester. Since we have humans with us, I figured we'd need extra protection."

"That's what Juliet is for," Nico said sullenly.

Thalia looked over at the limo where Artemis and Juliet were waiting, having not had time to get into the car before the new arrivals appeared. Thalia nodded when she saw Juliet and smiled slightly.

"She'll come in handy," she said. Then she turned to the others. "Let's get going. We don't have time to waste."

They trooped back to the limo. As they walked, Percy thought he heard Nico muttering Ancient Greek underneath his breath. He caught the words "sorry" and "pay," but when he glanced over at his cousin, the boy was tight-lipped. Shaking off a feeling of uneasiness, Percy hurried into the limo, taking a seat next to Annabeth. She glanced at him questioningly, but he shook his head. Now was not the time to discuss Nico's strange behavior. But they would definitely have to talk about it sometime in the near future.

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**You guys know the drill. Also, I usually try harder when I have more reviews, but school work has really caught up with me and is bogging me down, draining my brain of its creative juices. It's madness I tell you. I think my Muse is locked up in a basement where my college and scholarship applications are holding her hostage. I'm trying to rescue her, but so far they've hit me with everything from internet shortages to applications I'm not qualified for. 'Tis frustrating, but I shall prevail! *goes to retrieve her samurai sword and leap back into the fray***


	6. A Midsummer Daydream

**A/N: So sorry about the wait! I was doing NaNoWriMo for the month of November and haven't been working on any fanfictions. The good news is that I finished my novel with over 65k words and I'm working on self-publishing it. XD The bad news is that I lost inspiration for my fanfics during that month and I had to work hard to get it back again, lol.**

**But I got it back and here's an extra long chapter for ya'll. XD (Sorry for any typos, it's 1:48AM over here and didn't want to keep ya'll waiting any longer.)  
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****Chapter 6/****A Midsummer Daydream**

As soon as they were back in the hotel, Artemis, Rachel, and Annabeth went straight to their laptops on the kitchen table, looking up the names that Hamilton had given them. Juliet stood behind them, talking with Thalia, discussing battle strategies and weaponry.

Percy, Nico, and the two Hunters sat and stood in the front room, respectively. Mr. Dare and Mr. Fowl had gone to a meeting, having called Rachel and Artemis from the limo.

Percy was rather uncomfortable. The two Hunters, Alyssa and Hester, were staring at him and Nico. Nico did not seem to mind for he was dropping off. For some reason as soon as he stepped into the hotel and sat down, a wave of sleepiness consumed him and he was having trouble staying awake. That left Percy and he had never been comfortable with small-talk. Especially not with girls and equally especially not with girls who hated boys.

"Are you mad about something?" he asked Hester, who had been wearing a permanent scowl ever since she had been introduced to the group.

"She does not find it amusing that the boy shares the name of our goddess," Alyssa answered stiffly.

"It's not like he can help it," Percy pointed out.

"She finds it distasteful that his parents would even consider such a name for a male child," Alyssa added.

Percy rolled his eyes. "I wasn't really talking to you, you know," he said.

Alyssa pursed her lips and Hester turned her scowl onto Percy.

"She made it her solemn oath that she would never, ever speak to a boy," Alyssa said. "She's been keeping this vow for the past two hundred years."

"Um . . . okay."

Percy felt rather offended but before he could think of a good retort, a faint snoring sound made him look to the right. There was Nico, fast asleep against the couch's arm, his Stygian sword clutched tightly in his hand.

"Why is he sleeping? It is in the middle of the day," Alyssa asked with distaste. "Lazy men," she muttered.

"Thalia wouldn't appreciate you insulting her friends," Percy said, wondering if he should just leave Nico there or if he should try to wake him.

"_You_ are her friend," Alyssa corrected. "Not him."

Percy frowned. "My friends are her friends."

Both Alyssa and Hester looked skeptical but they chose not to argue. Percy leaned over and poked Nico's arm gently. The boy did not move. Percy poked harder.

"Just five more minutes, Bianca," he muttered in annoyance before slipping deeper into his sleep.

Percy started at the name and glanced over at the group at the table, wondering if Thalia had heard. She did not look over and he realized now would not be a good time to disturb Nico. Standing, he made his way over to the kitchen.

"Find anything useful?" he asked, walking over to Annabeth and leaning on her shoulder.

"Nothing," Annabeth said irritably. "All these guys check out! There's absolutely no leads. We don't even know where to start from here! We're at a dead end."

"Yeah, I think Nico got bored," Percy said, glancing over at the sleeping demigod.

Thalia frowned slightly as they all followed his gaze. "Has he not been sleeping? I noticed he looked pale."

"He always looks pale," Percy said. "And he doesn't eat enough, but that's not the problem I think. Well, he did ask me if I've been having dreams. But since Kronos I haven't."

"You think he's having dreams?" Annabeth asked, her eyes widening. "If so, that could be of some help! Did you ask him what he dreams about?"

Percy shook his head solemnly. "I was afraid to ask. I think it has something to do with Bianca."

The room got suddenly very quiet. Artemis looked up from his laptop and frowned quizzically.

"I'm assuming by everyone's reaction that this Bianca is either estranged or dead," he said matter-a-factly.

"She's dead," Thalia said flatly.

"My condolences," Artemis said. "I'm also assuming she was close to Mister di Angelo?"

"His sister," Percy said in a tight voice, wondering if that was what had been keeping Nico in such a funk lately. If he had been dreaming about Bianca . . .

"Bianca helped me before," he said suddenly. "Maybe she's trying to help Nico."

"With what?" Rachel asked with some frustration. "Obviously not with his quest, otherwise we wouldn't be stuck!"

"We're all irritable right now," Annabeth said, trying her best to keep things calm. "Maybe we should step back. Take a break and then come back to it later. Maybe then we'll see something we missed."

"Mmm, you can do that," Artemis said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'm going to do some more research." With that he proceeded to ignore them completely, typing away furiously on his keyboard.

Percy looked over at Nico who was still slumped over on the couch. He sighed.

"Should I wake him up?" he asked.

"Let's see if we can get him back to his bed," Annabeth said.

Together they hefted the boy and carried him into the room he shared with Percy. Percy remembered what had happened the last time he touched the sword, so he made sure to wrap his hand with the sheet before he took the sword from Nico's hand and pushed it gently into its sheath.

Annabeth frowned as she looked down at the boy; he had not even stirred since they moved him. His face was slightly sweaty and Annabeth reached over to place her palm on his forehead, checking for a fever. Instantly her entire body went rigid, her eyes open wide but not seeming to see anything. Percy looked over at her with concern.

"Annabeth?" he asked, stepping around the bed to stand next to her. He waved his hand in front of her eyes but nothing happened. He shook her shoulder lightly. "Annabeth!" Still no response.

With a frown of confusion, he looked down at her hand which was still attached to Nico's forehead. Reaching up, he pressed his hand against Annabeth's cheek. Suddenly he felt himself being sucked into something. With a sharp cry, he landed on his backend in the middle of a place that looked very, very familiar.

People were everywhere, doing all sorts of activities. They all looked like they were having an amazing time, but they all had different styles of clothing. Percy groaned inwardly. He knew exactly where they were. The Lotus Hotel and Casino.

Annabeth was standing right next to him, a slightly dazed expression on her face as she looked around her.

"How did we get back here?" Percy asked, standing and glancing sidelong at a tempting-looking video game just to his left. It seemed to be calling to him, with its flashing lights and bright neon sign that read COME PAY . . . er, COME PLAY.

"I don't think we're actually there," Annabeth said, touching his arm and pointing ahead of them. "Look."

Standing in front of the large slide that took up half of the room stood Nico and Bianca di Angelo, arguing, their hands moving rapidly to their words. They looked the way they had before Percy had met them. Nico, ten. Bianca, twelve . . . and alive.

"Percy," Annabeth said, keeping her eyes on the arguing siblings. "I think we're in Nico's dream."

"How is that even possible?" Percy asked, watching with slight disappointment as another kid got on the video game he had been eyeing.

"I don't know, but what other possibility could it be? With Bianca here . . ." she trailed off as the di Angelos suddenly stopped what they were doing and glanced over to the right, where Annabeth saw a dark shadow disappearing. Suddenly Nico grabbed Bianca's hand and pulled her away from the slide and the shadow, toward the elevators.

"Come on," Annabeth said, taking Percy's hand and tugging him along with her as she followed the di Angelos.

"Do you think Nico will listen to us? I mean, he looks like we did when we first met. And they were in the Lotus Hotel way before we even knew they existed. So, um, will he even recognize us?" Percy tried not to be distracted by all the pretty lights and sounds surrounding them as they headed toward the elevator the di Angelos had taken.

"I-I don't know," Annabeth said, stopping at the elevator just as it closed. She growled in frustration and pushed the UP button, waiting impatiently for the next elevator to arrive. In the meantime she watched the lights on top of the elevator doors light up one by one, indicating which floors the elevator was passing. Finally it stopped on the fifth floor, just as the next elevator opened.

She pulled him inside and pressed the button for the fifth floor, willing the elevator to go quickly as the doors slowly closed and they started to move up. With the lights and noises now good, Percy shook himself slightly and glanced over at Annabeth.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Um, I'm kind of winging-it," Annabeth admitted hesitantly.

Percy grinned. "Well we do unpredictable very well."

"I just hope we don't shock the poor kid out of his sleep," Annabeth said as the doors began opening again. "That can't be healthy."

"There they are!" Percy pointed ahead of them where the two di Angelos were running down the hall, ducking into a room at the end of it.

Percy and Annabeth followed quickly. But when they opened the same door they were confronted with an empty room. Percy frowned slightly, and then turned suddenly to the right.

"What is it?" Annabeth asked, stepping farther into the room warily.

"I thought I saw something. Like a shadow. I saw it when we were downstairs too."

"You see it too?" a soft voice from the corner of the room said.

Both half-bloods turned back around to see Bianca and Nico di Angelo standing at the far side of the room. They stepped forward simultaneously. Bianca had her arm draped over Nico's shoulder. The little boy was watching them closely, and Percy could see that he recognized them, but he said nothing, only watched.

There was no such recognition in Bianca's eyes . . . at first. Then she narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Percy? Is that you?"

Annabeth started and turned to look at her friend. Taking his arm, she led him a little ways away from the di Angelos, speaking in a soft whisper. "How could she recognize you? This was before you met her!"

"But its Nico's dream and Nico knows me so . . ." Percy frowned, confused as well.

"But he knows me too, and she doesn't seem to recognize me." Annabeth glanced over at Bianca who was watching them both with an unreadable expression.

"Maybe we should just ask what's going on?" Percy suggested.

"Yeah, why don't you just ask," Nico said, suddenly appearing right next to them. He looked twelve again, pale and gaunt, like he did in the real world. His dark eyes flashed with irritation.

Percy glanced over at Bianca, but she was still frozen in the same place she was before, staring at them. He looked back at Nico who was frowning slightly up at them.

"What are you doing inside my dream?" he demanded, crossing his arms.

"It was an accident," Annabeth said. "I just touched your forehead and was sucked in. It was strange."

"Well can you get _out_?" Nico asked with some annoyance. "Bianca came here to be with _me._ If she wanted to talk to you she'd visit you in your own dreams."

"Wait, so she's visiting you in your dream?" Percy asked, beginning to understand, or so he thought. "So you're not just dreaming about her?"

"That's why she recognized you," Annabeth said with realization.

"Yeah," Nico said abruptly. "Now if you'll just go away—"

"Um, I don't think we can. Not without your help at least," Percy said sheepishly. "I mean, we don't even know how we got here in the first place."

Nico scowled. "I can't help you," he said, turning away.

Percy reached out and grabbed the boy's shoulder. "If you wake up, then we'll all wake up. I think."

Nico shrugged Percy's hand off his shoulder and scowled. "I don't want to wake up. I like it here. I want to stay with Bianca. _You_ guys have to go." He paused suddenly and tilted his head toward the frozen form of Bianca. Another dark shadow passed by in Percy's peripheral vision, but when he turned his head to look more directly, the shadow was gone.

"She doesn't want you here," Nico said, turning back to Percy. "She wants you to go. Now."

"But Bianca and I made our peace," Percy said with a frown. "Why wouldn't she want me here? I'd like to talk to her again." He took a step toward Bianca, but Nico grabbed his arm.

"NO!" he shouted, and Bianca moved a fraction of an inch. The walls around them shimmered slightly, like holographic images, before they became solid again. Annabeth frowned slightly and Percy looked down at Nico in surprise.

"What's big deal? I just want to say 'hi,'" Percy said, trying not to look hurt.

"She doesn't want you here," Nico repeated loudly, an angry expression darkening his pale face. "She doesn't like you. She wants you to leave!"

"But why doesn't she—"

"You killed her!" Nico screamed, and the walls shimmered again. "You let her die and she's not going to let you hurt me too. She wants to keep me safe! But she can't do that if _you're_ here. You mess _every_thing up! Go AWAY!"

The walls cracked and suddenly exploded, spilling blackness into the room, engulfing them. Suddenly Annabeth and Percy were falling . . . falling . . . falling through the blackness.

And then they were awake, sitting up in bed. They were in Rachel and Annabeth's room, Annabeth on her bed, Percy in Rachel's. When they sat up suddenly, they were confronted with Rachel yelling for the others to come in. She raced in between the two beds and looked back and forth between Annabeth and Percy.

"Are you okay? Are you both okay?" she asked quickly.

"Um, yeah?" Percy said, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Annabeth asked, blinking owlishly.

"You've both been unconscious for three days, that's what! Nico too. We called a doctor but he said you both were just asleep and wouldn't wake up! We tried everything. So Artemis was looking up sleep disorders or something, Mr. Dare and Mr. Fowl are out looking into specialists, and I came in to check on you and you're both awake! What happened?"

The two demigod just stared at her for a long moment.

"You said Nico was asleep too?" Annabeth asked. Before Rachel could answer she went on, "so he must have woken up at the same time we did." She pulled back the covers of her bed and jumped out, reaching over to grab Percy's arm as she marched toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Rachel asked, following them when she got no answer.

Annabeth led the way into Nico and Percy's room where Nico was still in bed, asleep, although his breathing was labored. Annabeth frowned and moved to the side of the bed, reaching down to shake his arm.

"Nico," she called softly. "Nico, wake up."

"What's going on?" Rachel asked Percy as Annabeth tried to wake the demigod. Artemis, Thalia, and Juliet approached in the doorway, looking in on the scene quietly, waiting for Percy's answer.

"We somehow got sucked into Nico's dream," Percy said, his eyes on Annabeth. "Bianca was there and Nico went crazy trying to get us to leave." He frowned slightly. "He said she didn't want to talk to me. That she blamed me for her death and didn't want me to hurt Nico. But when I talked to her last, we had made our peace about that. She said she knew it wasn't my fault. She didn't blame me for it. So I don't get why she's saying she does now . . ."

Artemis suddenly spun around and elbowed through Juliet and Thalia, hurrying past the Hunters and sitting down at his laptop. He exited out of whatever he had been doing before and started a new search:

GOD OF DREAMS

Meanwhile, Annabeth continued to try and wake Nico up from his deep slumber. Finally she managed to get through. The younger boy's eyes opened slowly and he blinked blankly up at her for a moment before scowling and rolling off the bed on the other side. He stood and stared at everyone in the room.

"What are you guys doing in my room?" he asked irritably.

"Our room," Percy corrected unnecessarily.

Nico frowned at him and his eyes narrowed into slits. "You!" he said accusingly. "You messed up my dream! After I got you out, all Bianca wanted to do was complain about you. She didn't want me to leave. She doesn't trust you. And after what she told me about that day in the desert, I don't think I should either." He turned his frown on each of those present.

The room seemed to grow colder; an icy chill filled the air. When Annabeth breathed, she saw her breath. Percy shook his head slowly.

"I don't know what Bianca told you," he said, doing his best to keep his voice steady. Why would Bianca lie to Nico about what had happened in the junkyard? Why would she turn Nico against them like this? "But what happened in the desert wasn't my fault. It wasn't anybody's fault! Bianca _saved_ our _lives_."

Nico started shaking his head before Percy was finished. "My sister wouldn't lie to me," he said, clenching his fists.

"I wouldn't think she would either," Percy said helplessly. "But she did. I don't know why she would lie, but I wasn't responsible for what happened to her. For some reason she's lying to you."

"Bianca has _never_ lied to me!" Nico said, trembling now.

Annabeth stood, her eyes wide with alarm. "Guys, calm down."

Thalia stepped forward, fingering her bracelet. Percy knew he should probably reach for Riptide, but he kept his hands at his sides. He did not want to fight Nico. He was just a frightened little boy with a lot of pressure on his shoulders from the quest. If he would just listen . . .

"Look Nico," Percy said slowly, trying to keep his voice calm and quiet. "I don't know what Bianca told you about that night in the junkyard, but she sacrificed herself for us. She died so that we could live. She went of her own free will. No one _let_ her die. She knew she was going to die, and she told me to tell you she was sorry."

Nico shook his head again, this time so vigorously his hair swished back and forth over his sweaty forehead. "No. No! She wouldn't have left me alone like that. And she wouldn't lie to me."

"Nico, we've been through this before, remember? You forgave me. You said you weren't mad at me. That you didn't blame me! And that Bianca didn't either!"

"Well she obviously changed her mind," Nico said in a low, quavering voice.

"That doesn't make any sense," Thalia stated bluntly. "I didn't know Bianca for very long, but I know she wasn't like that. Something is wrong here."

"Agh! What's wrong is that you people won't leave me and Bianca alone!" With a cry of frustration and rage, Nico drew his Stygian sword and swung wildly at Thalia. Instantly the shield with the Gorgon head spun out of her bracelet and Nico flinched automatically, his sword missing the shield completely and coming down toward Annabeth.

Percy leaped into action, drawing out and uncapping Riptide in one fluid motion. Celestial bronze and stygian iron clashed together with a loud CLANG!

"Nico, I don't want to fight you!" Percy said desperately.

Nico said nothing, only spun around and slashed at Percy's legs. Percy jumped back and met the thrust with one of his own. Annabeth quickly herded Rachel out of the room, and Thalia and Juliet came forward, Alyssa and Hester right behind them.

"Don't!" Percy called to them. "This isn't your fight." He knew Nico would have no chance against all five of them, and he did not want to harm the boy. "Nico, listen to me—"

Nico parried and thrust with his sword, scowling intently as he pushed Percy through the doorway and out into the kitchen area. Artemis only glanced up briefly from his laptop, moving a cup of tea that was sitting on the table out of the way as Percy's elbow swiped at the spot. Taking a sip, Artemis turned back to his research, reading through the different sites quickly as the fight continued around him.

Pictures fell, lamps were broken, and furniture was destroyed as Nico and Percy battled in the large hotel room. Percy was stronger and faster thanks to his dip in the River Styx, but Nico had rage to give him strength. And while Percy did not want to hurt Nico, the younger boy seemed to have no such reservations.

"You can't kill me, Nico," Percy said, breathing heavily as he blocked another stab to the heart. "You made me invulnerable, remember?"

"Everywhere except one spot," Nico said, his voice and face deadly serious. "I figure . . ." another stab that Percy missed, which bounced off his chest without a scratch ". . . if I stab everywhere . . ." a stab to the stomach, which again bounced off as Percy jumped back a foot ". . . I'll find it eventually." He grinned faintly, a sinister smile that sent shivers up everyone's spine. Except for Artemis, who was still focused intently on his laptop.

"Nico, you can't do this!" Annabeth cried, stepping forward and looking at the boy pleadingly.

For one moment Nico hesitated and made the mistake of glancing over at Annabeth. Hester took her chance and shot an arrow at Nico's chest.

"No!" Percy yelped, jumping forward and tackling Nico. The arrow bounced harmlessly off Percy's shoulder. Together the boys hit the glass doors that separated the kitchen area from the deck. They broke through the glass and stumbled over the side of the railing, flying out into thin air.

Nico yelled in terror as they plummeted to the ground. But Percy looked down and saw the large, hotel swimming pool. Twisting in mid-air, he directed them toward it. He hit the water first with a gigantic splash that sent the water several feet into the air. He quickly directed it back toward them so that they would not be left in an empty pool. Water rushed back in a swarm of bubbles, and he used them to lift both him and Nico to the surface.

Nico gagged and choked up pool water as Percy swam toward the edge of the pool. He pushed the younger boy up onto the concrete, climbing out after him. The patrons sitting around the pool all stared at him in shock. Quickly he snapped his fingers, manipulating the Mist. He was still new at the trick, but he hoped it would work well enough.

"That was the best cannonball, ever, wasn't it?" he asked with a grin and everyone clapped and nodded in agreement, forgetting all about the sight of two boys flying out of the top of the hotel.

Nico sputtered and gasped for air, curling up into a ball as he continued to throw up water. Percy pounded on his back none too gently. Nico glared at him.

"Hey, I just saved your life," he reminded the boy.

"This isn't over," Nico responded, but his voice was weak and he looked tired and worn out. He reached for his sword which had slipped out of his hands while Percy shoved him out of the water. Percy watched him warily but Nico just shook it out and returned it to its sheath.

Suddenly a bright, happy tune played from Percy's pocket. He started and pulled out an unfamiliar cell phone. Wondering how it had gotten into his pocket, he opened it and said, "uh, hello?"

"If you children are quite done fighting," Artemis's Irish brogue cut into Percy's ear sharply. "I have found some information I think is very relevant to the situation at hand. If you both would be so kind as to refrain from killing each other, I would like to see you immediately."

He hung up abruptly and Percy looked over at Nico, who was watching him closely.

"Artemis found something important," he said blankly.

"Of course he did," Nico said, rolling his eyes. With a sigh he stood and walked off toward the pool doors that led to the hotel gym, his soggy clothes leaving a trail of water behind him.

* * *

**Some intense happenings up in here! A lot of questions have been raised and believe me, I'm almost as confused as ya'll are! What follows is going to be interesting, complicated, and confusing, but it'll all work out in the end. Hopefully. ;) In the meantime, review and tell me what you think of this chapter! XD**


	7. A Plan Gone Fowl

**A/N: Ahhhhh sorry for the wait. Here's an extra long chapter for ya'll as a consolation. That's good right? *smiles sweetly***

**

* * *

****Chapter 7/A Plan Gone Fowl**

Artemis Fowl sat on the deck, staring off at the horizon as the sun sank behind buildings in the distance, casting a pink and gold hue over the city. As metallically beautiful as it was, he felt homesick for Ireland and the Fowl Manor. It was strange to feel homesick, since he usually did not bother much with thinking about home, but he had to admit to himself that he missed his family and Butler. Juliet was good to have around in a fight, but Butler had been like the older brother Artemis had never had, although he never would have admitted that to anyone. He was slowly becoming used to having Juliet at his side instead of the large man, but it still felt awkward sometimes.

A large sheet covered the place where the glass doors used to be. The hotel had yet to fix it, but apparently repair men were coming in the next afternoon. Juliet pulled back the sheet and stepped out onto the deck, frowning slightly when she saw Artemis sitting there.

"Arty, are you sure it's safe to be out here?"

Artemis glanced over and gave Juliet a wry smile. "I hardly think the wind is strong enough to lift me bodily over the railing. I'm just sitting, Juliet. I'm perfectly safe."

She blushed slightly but shook her head. "That's not exactly what I meant."

There was a short pause.

"You mean I could be struck out of the sky by angry gods for what we're planning to do." He spoke her thoughts so candidly, she could only nod mutely. Settling back in the lawn chair, he closed his eyes. "The plan is foolproof. The gods will know that."

"Artemis, this is very different from what we're used to," Juliet said, concern coloring her tone. "I mean, fairies we could handle. But gods? They're . . . so much more than we've encountered before. More powerful. What if the plan doesn't work? They could _kill_ you, Artemis. They could strike you down the minute something goes wrong."

"Nothing's going to go wrong," Artemis said confidently. "Really Juliet, your concern is touching, but you know me. My plans have never gone wrong." Strictly speaking that was not entirely true. There had been kinks in his plans before, things he had not been expecting. But everything had gone his way in the end.

"Still, I'll be glad when Butler and Holly get here."

Artemis gave Juliet a sharp look. "We can't speak about it, remember? We have no idea who's listening."

Juliet grimaced. "Right, sorry." There was another pause during which Juliet crouched beside the chair and put her hand lightly on Artemis's shoulder.

"Tell me you know what you're doing, Arty," she pleaded softly in a voice she never, ever used. "Tell me everything's going to turn out just fine, and we won't burn in Hades for all eternity for doing . . . what we're going to do."

Artemis opened his eyes and looked down into Juliet's, blue and hazel meeting green in a serious gaze. Suddenly to Juliet it seemed as though the years Artemis had lost had come back on him all at once. The premature lines around his eyes and forehead deepened, and she could tell, just for a moment, that he was tired. Tired of all these dangerous schemes and plots. But then just as suddenly the lines smoothed out and a fierce determination lit his gaze and burned through her with an energetic fire. And she knew that just because this plan might be more dangerous than any he had ever done, did not mean it would not work, it only meant that he would work at it ten times harder. And he would win. He always won. This would be no exception.

"Everything's going to turn out just fine," he repeated finally. His pale, slender hand moved hesitantly upward as if to touch her cheek.

Eyes widening slightly, she pulled back and stood, nodding her head respectfully.

"Thank you, sir," she said, all formality snapping back into place. Turning, she left the deck hurriedly.

Artemis blinked, staring at his hand as if it belonged to another. Slowly he let it fall back into his lap, wondering if he was so far gone thinking and rethinking through his plan that he had lost control of his extremities. It was just . . . seeing her looking up at him like that . . . the trust in her eyes had been overwhelming. He had known if he had expressed one word of doubt about his plan she would have called everything off and whisked him back to Ireland for his own safety. The moment he had engineered his plan he had known that he would be responsible for her life as well as the lives of the demigods. Everything depended on him and the thought of letting any of them down . . .

Well, that simply would not happen. It never did. His plans were always perfect. Glancing down at his hand, he clenched his fingers into a fist and put aside the memory of Juliet's face looking up at him. He had a plan to execute.

Juliet shivered slightly as she crossed to the kitchen to pour herself some water. She knew she had no reason to be afraid, but somehow she still was. She was afraid of what was going to happen to them during this insane plan of her employer's. But it was more than that, she had seen, just for a second, a look of slight vulnerability on Artemis's face in that one moment their gazes locked. And that look scared her more than anything.

-----

"So apparently my dad thinks it'll be relaxing for everyone if we take a trip to the beach." Rachel rolled her eyes.

Artemis did not look up from his phone, which he was using to access the internet. Juliet sat beside him, a thoughtful frown on her face. Nico was staring sullenly out the window, and Annabeth was watching him worriedly, her hand tightly grasping that of Percy, who was staring out of his own window. The silence was tense and uncomfortable. Thalia and her Hunters had left the hotel earlier that morning. The daughter of Zeus promised to keep in touch via Iris-messages when she could.

"Of course," Rachel went on when no one responded. "He doesn't really know what we're up to so . . ." she trailed off when she still received no response. With a sigh she fiddled listlessly with the edge of the poncho that she wore over her bathing suit. Everyone was dressed for the beach, except for Artemis who was wearing his usual suit.

Rachel had rolled her eyes when she saw him step out of his room. "Artemis," she had said in exasperation. "We're going to the _beach_. Look at the rest of us." She waved a hand to Juliet who was wearing a simple, black one-piece with long shorts and flip-flops. Of course the many pockets of her shorts housed a knife, a small handgun, a pair of handcuffs, some mace, and a cellphone. Just in case. Annabeth wore a modest blue and gray two-piece with long khaki shorts and sandals. Her curly hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she carried a beach bag full of towels, sunscreen, water bottles, and her laptop (in case there was wi-fi at a shack, she said).

Percy was shirtless with swimming trunks that were covered with tropical fish of various colors. He wore flip-flops as well and a long towel around his neck. In the pocket of his trunks was Riptide. Only Nico wore more clothes than the rest, with black swimming trucks covered with grinning, white skulls and a black t-shirt. Annabeth suspected that under his shirt he was almost frightfully skinny and was avoiding comments on it. Strapped to his side was his Stygian sword which would be concealed by the mist. Rachel herself was wearing short shorts and a red poncho over her string bikini.

Artemis looked over the rest of the group and then down at his suit. "I have nothing else," he had admitted finally with a shrug. "This is as casual as I go." And it was casual. He was not wearing his Italian shoes.

After what felt like an eternity, the limo pulled up at the beach and everyone piled out of the car. Annabeth led the way to a spot on the sand far away from the vacationers and tourists. Rachel's chauffer helped her and Annabeth set up beach chairs and umbrellas. Immediately Annabeth sat down and opened her laptop, checking for internet. Impossibly she was able to access a wireless network and she began studying some building plans she was working on. Artemis sat in a chair next to her and continued to work on his phone. Juliet stood behind him, dark sunglasses covering her sharp green eyes as she kept an eye out for any danger.

Percy went straight for the water. Tossing his towel aside, he flipped into the waves, shouting triumphantly. Rachel peeled off her shorts, kicked off her shoes, and tossed her poncho on top of them. With a grin she ran after Percy into the water. Nico did not join the others. He stood in the sand, squinting in the sun. He did not look comfortable out in the heat and bright light. Shifting slightly, he glanced from Percy and Rachel to Annabeth and Artemis, as if wondering which group he would not mind sitting with the least. With a small sigh he trudged back to Artemis and Annabeth, plopping down in the sand beside Annabeth's chair, in the shade of her umbrella. Drawing his knees up to his chest, he watched her work silently. If Annabeth was unnerved by his presence, she did not let on, only kept working.

An hour or so passed and Rachel came up, dripping. She grinned at Annabeth. "Come on," she beckoned, "the water's great! Besides, I think Percy is getting a little lonely." She winked cheekily and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll go in for a bit." She tossed a towel to Rachel and stood, glancing over at Artemis. She was about to ask if he wanted to come, but his eyes were closed and it looked like he was dozing. Not wanting to disturb him, she turned to Nico.

"Come swim with us?" she asked gently, holding her hand out to him.

He stared at the hand for a moment before taking it and hauling himself to his feet. It did not take much effort. Annabeth shivered slightly and was half-relieved, half-worried when Nico slipped his fingers out of hers. Despite the heat of the day, his hand was as cold as ice.

Stepping out of her sandals and khakis, Annabeth ran toward the surf, diving in once she hit the water. Percy caught her underneath a wave and together they broke the surface, grinning.

"Maybe Mr. Dare was right about coming here to relax," he said, pushing wet hair out of her eyes tenderly.

"It certainly helped you," Annabeth observed. Then, remembering Nico, she turned and glanced over at the slight boy standing at the water's edge, his dark head bent as if he were staring at the sand beneath his feet.

"Is he still angry?" Percy asked hesitantly, his grin fading.

Annabeth sighed. "I think so." Nico's head came up and Annabeth waved, but he did not see her, instead looking out toward one of the docks in the distance. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, thinking of how to get him to relax. However in that moment a huge wave tumbled over her and Percy. The son of Poseidon let the wave drag them to the sand, and they tumbled over each other, laughing.

When they stopped, Percy was on top of Annabeth. He grinned down at her and she smiled back. Slowly, he lowered himself and covered her lips with his own.

While the demigods were frolicking in the serf, Rachel laid out in the sand on a beach towel, soaking up some sun. She had lathered herself with sunscreen and hoped that she would actually tan and not burn like she usually did. Feeling someone's eyes on her, she turned slightly and looked up at Artemis who was leaning back in his chair, his eyes now shaded by sunglasses. Still she smirked.

"Are you checking me out, Master Fowl?" she asked playfully.

She was rewarded with a surprised cough that sounded slightly guilty if she heard correctly. She grinned as he lowered the glasses and frowned at her.

"As I'm sure you know, _Miss Dare_," he said as condescendingly as possible, "I have never 'checked out' a girl in my life and have no intention of ever doing so." He paused for a moment before adding, "It is very much below my maturity level." Even so, he blushed faintly. At least she thought it was a blush. It was hard to tell since his face had been already flushed with sun he was unused to. Juliet moved the umbrella as close as possible to insure her employer had as much shade as possible.

"Come off your high horse, Fowl," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "You're fifteen. It's perfectly in your right to check out a girl. In fact, I think you should start soon, otherwise you might be called homo." She smirked deviously as Artemis coughed again.

Before he could answer however, a loud, angry yell came from the water. Whipping her head around, Rachel scanned the shoreline. Her eyes landed on Percy and Annabeth, making out on the sand. She raised an eyebrow at this uncharacteristic public display of affection then trailed her gaze over to where the shout had come from. She sat up suddenly as Nico ran at the couple and tackled Percy, rolling the bigger boy off of Annabeth.

"Hey!" she shouted, standing quickly, wondering what had happened.

In truth Nico did not really know himself. He had been standing there, enduring the painful sunlight as best he could, debating with himself whether to go into the water or not. Annabeth wanted him to join them, but then he would have to be with her and Percy. The odd one out. The third wheel. He gritted his teeth slightly at the thought, though he was used to being an outsider. It was Percy that made all the difference. The boy he had trusted, seen as a friend. The boy who had lied to him; who had let Bianca die.

Suddenly Nico noticed that the two were no longer in the water. He turned around and saw them a couple feet down from him. They were kissing. Passionately. Percy was on top . . . holding Annabeth down, pressing her into the hot sand. . . . Something inside Nico snapped. His hands began trembling, his vision grew red. With a wild cry of rage, he ran at the boy, tackling him, dragging him off of Annabeth. In a distant part of his mind he heard Rachel call to him indignantly, he heard Annabeth's gasp of horror, but he was too focused on defeating the murderer once and for all.

Pummeling with his fists did no good, Nico soon found out. Percy's indestructible skin just caused Nico's knuckles to crack and bleed. Rolling off him, Nico drew his sword and slashed down. In an instant, Riptide was in Percy's hand and he was fending the smaller boy off.

"Nico!" he panted. "What are you doing?"

"I told you this wasn't over!" Nico screamed, not really sure why he was doing it other than he felt the incredible need to fight Percy. It was almost as if Bianca were inside his head, urging him on. Reminding Nico of how Percy had let her run into the bronze giant, watched without emotion as it fell, thinking only of getting himself to safety.

A wave of sea water knocked his feet out from under him, and his head smacked against the wet sand, dazing him for a moment. For a split second he wondered what in the world he was doing, and then it came back to him, and he leaped up without using his hands, twirling his sword, the black iron glittering in the sun. With a cry he slammed the point into the sand.

"Serve me!" he called and instantly the ground rumbled and skeletons began emerging, heading straight for Percy.

"Artemis!" Rachel cried. "What do we do?"

At the sight of the skeletons, Artemis paled for a moment. But only for a moment. Then he raised himself from the chair and frowned in the direction of the fight. "Percy has the water at his command. And he is invulnerable. Everything will be fine."

Juliet glanced sidelong at Artemis, looking slightly skeptical, but the pale boy looked impassive, sliding the sunglasses back over his strange eyes. Rachel gripped her hands together and watched anxiously, wishing she could do something, _anything_ to help.

Annabeth rushed to her side, digging into the beach bag, tossing towels aside in search for something. Finally she shouted in triumph and drew out her bronze dagger. Instantly Rachel knew what she was about to do and grabbed her arm.

"No! It's too dangerous," she said.

Annabeth gave her an anguished look. "I have to do _something_," she said and tore away, running for the two boys battling near the water. Rachel started after her, but Artemis touched her arm and, when she looked back at him, shook his head almost imperceptibly. Biting her lip, Rachel took a step back and watched the scene anxiously.

Percy had washed a couple dozen skeletons into the sea, but they kept coming back. It was becoming difficult to gather the water though, with Nico attacking him viciously every time a skeleton fell away.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of blonde hair and suddenly Annabeth was there, knocking skeleton after skeleton into the sand with her bronze dagger. Those took longer to get up, but Nico had not noticed her yet, so focused was he on taking Percy down. Finally, with one hard twirl, Anaklusmos flew out of Percy's hand, landing behind him. For a split second Percy was afraid. He could not turn his back on Nico on the chance that he found the vulnerable spot. He had definitely ruled out a lot of other places.

But he could not let Nico keep fighting him either. With a desperate twist, he turned and lunged for his weapon. Nico's eyes lighted on Percy's unprotected back and without thinking, without pausing, swung his Stygian sword down toward it.

"NO!"

Several people screamed at once, but only one kept screaming. Nico froze, his eyes wide with horror as he stared down at Annabeth, collapsed in the serf, clutching a deep gash in her arm.

"It burns!" she cried, tears streaming down her sweaty cheeks. "It burns like ice!"

Nico stumbled backward, his sword falling to the ground. Rachel, Artemis, and Juliet raced forward. The skeleton's crumpled into the sand and the waves carried them out to sea. Percy capped Riptide and grabbed Annabeth, cradling her to his chest even though blood gushed out of her wound. Her skin was pale and her eyelids fluttered weakly. The gash had gone to the bone, Nico could see it through all the red. He could feel her life force drifting, dying.

"Annabeth!" he cried in agony and started to rush forward.

But Percy looked up at him with eyes full of anger and pain and snarled, "Get away from her!"

Nico stopped dead in his tracks, his dark eyes filling with tears. "But—but I thought . . . she just jumped . . ."

Juliet scooped Annabeth up and laid her out carefully on the loose sand. "Artemis, call an ambulance! Now!"

Artemis dialed with shaking fingers. His sunglasses were down his nose and crooked and his two-toned eyes were wide, his face paler than ever. _This isn't right_, he thought as he lifted the phone to his ear and stared down at Rachel who was helping Percy to stand. _This wasn't supposed to happen._

Nico knelt beside Juliet, almost collapsing. Rachel and Percy hurried over as well, while Artemis trailed behind, explaining the situation as best he could to the operator.

When Nico tried to help Juliet wrap up Annabeth's arm with a towel, Rachel reached down and slapped his hands away.

"You idiot!" she cried, glaring down at the younger boy while half-holding, half-supporting a dazed Percy. "Why couldn't you have listened to us? What's your problem? Annabeth is dying! Are you happy now? Is that what you wanted?"

Nico shook his head so quickly his dark hair swung back and forth across his forehead. He leaped to his feet. "No!" he choked out through the lump in his throat. "I would never hurt Annabeth! She shouldn't have jumped in front of me!"

"You shouldn't have been fighting Percy in the first place!"

"Percy, I—" Nico cut off when he saw the look in Percy's eyes. It was like looking into a sea during a vicious storm. It was cold, angry, and full of pain and grief.

"I think you've made it clear that you don't want to be with us," he forced out after a moment. "So why don't you just go?"

Nico blinked. For some strange reason he felt a swell of satisfaction, but he quickly shoved it down, horrified at the feeling. It was replaced by a deep hurt.

"But—"

"You've done enough damage," Rachel snapped. "Go away." With that she lowered Percy next to Annabeth. His face was pale as he stroked the limp hair away from his girlfriend's still face.

"She's loosing a lot of blood," Juliet muttered. "Where's that ambulance?"

Artemis glanced over at the shocked Nico with a cold gaze. "You should leave," he said, shifting his gaze to somewhere over the boy's shoulder. "Athena won't be very happy with this. I would leave this place as quickly as possible if I were you."

He turned away and as sirens sounded in the distance, getting closer by the second, Nico stumbled away from the group. Scooping up his sword, he shoved it into its scabbard. He felt as though a weight had settled over his entire body, pushing him into the ground.

He did not get very far before he collapsed into the sand. With his face buried, he wished he could die right then and there. He wanted Athena to come and smite him dead. It would be better than leaving Annabeth to die when it was his fault. He deserved death. He deserved to be put into the Fields of Punishment for what he had done.

But Athena did not come. Instead a gentle hand touched his shoulder and when he looked up, Bianca smiled sadly down at him. "Come, little brother," she said, tenderly wiping the sand from his tear-stained face. "Let's leave this place."

While the ambulance crew lifted Annabeth into the bed of the truck, Rachel looked over her shoulder, looking for Nico, wondering if he had trailed behind anyway. But she could see nobody. It was as if he had disappeared.

"We _would_ forget to bring ambrosia," Percy muttered, getting into the ambulance. "We need to get to Camp Half-Blood." He glanced over at Artemis who nodded to Juliet. Grimacing, the girl rendered the crew unconscious with a few quick nerve pinches. Then she hopped into the driver's seat, Artemis getting into the passenger's side. When Rachel and Percy had closed the doors behind them, Juliet peeled out into the traffic, letting the siren wail as she tore down the streets, listening to shouted directions from Rachel as Percy grimly inserted an IV into Annabeth's good arm.

She had to live. If she died . . . He did not want to think about it. Because if she died, Percy was not sure he would be able to keep himself from handing out the same fate to a certain son of Hades.

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**. . . I really have no words at this point. Review and tell me what you think of the chapter!**


	8. We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, etc. etc. etc. Now it's time for *drumroll* a Nico chapter!  
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****Chapter 8/We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On**

Nico opened his eyes slowly, blinking rapidly as he stared up at the dark green "Majesty" canopy above the bed. Wait . . . bed? He sat up slowly, taking in the massive bed he was in. The canopy curtains were closed, but they were made of a gauzy material that he could see through faintly. He did not recognize the room he was in. It was large and looked expensive, like the master bedroom of a palace or really, really fancy hotel suite. Slowly pushing back the black satin sheets and black velvet covers, Nico crawled to the end of the large bed, taking the edge of one of the curtains and pulling back slightly. Nothing looked familiar.

A great carpet lay on the ground, the scenes on it depicting power, torture, and various beings in the throes of passion. Nico wrinkled his nose in distaste, wondering who the heck would want to see _that_ every morning and night. But even as he looked at it, it began to change. He stared, amazed, as the carpet's design faded into giant black rose, its vines curling outward to the edges of the carpet.

_Okaaaay, that was weird,_ Nico thought, sliding off the bed and standing in the middle of the room. The walls were made of dark red wood, polished to a light shine. The entrance was a double door, facing the bed. A black vanity and dresser sat off to the side, and he blinked blankly when he saw his clothes neatly folded on the vanity's chair.

Quickly he checked to make sure he was still wearing _something_, and sighed with relief when his hands came in contact with soft silk. Wait . . . silk? He pulled at his shirt and saw he was wearing black silk pajamas.

"What is going _on_ here?" he asked aloud, trying to think of the last thing he remembered. He had gone to the beach, had he not? And then something had happened . . .

"Do you like it?"

Nico whirled around, hand automatically going to his side where his Stygian iron sword usually hung. He grasped at nothing. Feeling vulnerable and uncomfortable, Nico crossed his arms tightly over his chest and scowled at the girl who had suddenly appeared in this strange room with him.

She looked to be around fifteen or sixteen, but she was petite so she stood only a few inches taller than Nico. She looked like a normal teenage girl, aside from the fact she was wearing a long black cloak over her regular jeans and dark purple t-shirt. The cloak seemed to shimmer and the black moved almost like liquid over it. Her long blonde hair was almost white and straight, falling down her shoulders but pulled back from her face. She had large gray eyes, almost the same color as Annabeth's, Nico thought. But while Annabeth's eyes were intimidating, and sometimes scary, this girl's were soft and it almost looked as though she were not really seeing him at all, but looking beyond him. Like she was daydreaming or something.

"Who are you?" Nico demanded when she said nothing else, simply stared at him with a funny little smile that made him decidedly uncomfortable.

"Oh, right, how rude!" the girl exclaimed, hand flying to her cheek. "Adorable little thing doesn't even know who it was that saved him! Well, Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades, I am Lilith, Daughter of Morpheus."

She beamed at him as if she expected him to know her. Nico just stared back blankly.

"What am I doing here?" he asked finally. "And where is my sword?"

Lilith waved a hand in dismissal. "You won't need that here, silly. There's nothing to fight! Do you like your room? I designed it how I thought you'd want it."

"It's nice. What am I doing here?"

The girl sighed, unclasping her cloak and tossing it over the vanity chair. "I saved you, Nico. I took you away from that awful waking world and put you in this place, where you can be safe and have anything you ever wanted." She grinned.

"What do you mean 'waking world'?" Nico demanded, frowning once more. "Am I asleep?"

"Mmmmm, in a way," Lilith conceded reluctantly. "But please don't dwell on that, Nico. You'll ruin all the fun."

"Fun?" Nico looked at her incredulously. "You think keeping me here against my will is _fun_?"

"Well, you don't want to go back do you? I mean, what with what you did and all . . ."

"What I did?"

Lilith frowned, delicate eyebrows meeting over a small, upturned nose. It might have been cute if Nico had not been too busy noticing how . . . _wrong_ everything felt. It seemed unreal, standing here in a sort of dream world, talking to a daughter of Morpheus who looked way too peppy for her own good. He had never met a child of Morpheus before, but he had always thought they would be lethargic and sleepy.

"Yes, silly boy. What you did. Don't you remember? Oh, it was _so_ exciting. You almost killed Percy Jackson! In fact, you would have, if that pesky daughter of Athena hadn't gotten in the way." Lilith pouted, but Nico felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him.

"I . . . but Percy's invulnerable."

"Except for one spot," Lilith reminded him. "It's in the small of his back, if you didn't know. You were heading straight for it."

"But I-I would never hurt Percy!" Nico exclaimed, his hands dropping to his sides. They twitched agitatedly, missing his sword. "Percy's my best friend, and I don't have a lot of friends. Why would I try to kill him?"

"Oh, poor dear. I forgot that you'd be more clear-sighted in here. That certainly takes the fun out of things, but I suppose I'll just have to adapt. Let's just say . . . you weren't completely yourself. Unfortunately I almost lost you when that Athena girl got in the way. Ugly witch got through to you, almost made me lose control."

"Lose control . . ." Nico suddenly remembered something from that day on the beach (was it yesterday? A week ago? A few hours ago?). "I . . . got angry at Percy. I-I fought him. And then Annabeth . . ." His dark eyes widened in dismay. "I wounded her! She was dying!"

"Yeah, didn't expect that. Who knew she would do a stupid thing like throw herself on your sword? Crazy, huh?"

Nico reached out and grabbed Lilith's forearm in a tight grasp. She winced slightly, but he simply tightened his grip. "Is she alright? Did I kill her? ANSWER ME!"

"Okay, chill out. The girl's going to be just fine. Unfortunately."

Nico released her and sagged against the bed post closest to him. "Ugh, what have I done?" he muttered, covering his face with his hands.

"Oh, come on!" Lilith complained. "Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase are nothing. Sure, they defeated Kronos, big deal. They're not as powerful as you are, Nico. And they're standing in your way." She reached out and brushed her fingers through the boy's dark hair.

Nico jerked away and flung himself on the bed, burying his face in the black satin pillows. He felt as though a weight had been placed on his chest and was squeezing his lungs so severely he could not breathe. He remembered everything now. The battle in the hotel and at the beach; Percy's desperate attempts to communicate with him; Annabeth's horrified face when the boys fought; her life force draining away by his hand. . . .

The bed dipped slightly as Lilith sat down beside him. A warm hand rested on his back, and he shifted away, too angry to speak to her, even though he wanted to scream and curse and make her let him go. But then what would he do? He remembered the haunted look on Percy's face as he watched his girlfriend die. How could Nico go back and face that? Annabeth might still live, but that would not take away what Nico had done. It was unforgivable. Just thinking about it, Nico was not sure he would even be able to forgive himself.

"You can be happy here, Nico," Lilith said quietly. "With me. You can have anything you want. Just say it—just _think_ it—and it'll be yours, I promise."

Nico turned over to face her, frowning. "Bianca was never really there, was she?" he asked glumly.

Lilith shook her head, smiling ruefully. (_At least she had the decency to do that,_ Nico thought.) "But you can have her back, Nico. Here . . . she can be with you."

She lifted her eyes and stared off at the back wall. Nico's frown deepened and he sat up, turning his head to follow her gaze. A figure seemed to materialize out of the wood. As it came forward, familiar features began to form. Long black hair pulled back in a braid, olive skin and compassionate black eyes, a silver hoodie, a floppy green hat. Nico could not help but give a small cry as his heart twisted painfully in his chest. Standing before him was his sister, looking at him with such affection and concern, that for a moment he did not care if she was not real. Sliding off the bed, he broke through the canopy curtains and flung his arms around Bianca's waist, almost knocking her off her feet.

"Nico, Nico," she murmured softly, holding him closely, stroking his hair. "I've missed you so much. I'm so glad you're here."

Even as he thought he never wanted to let go, Nico stepped back out of her arms, shaking his head slowly. "No," he murmured. "No, you're not really here. She's just doing this to make me want to stay."

Bianca gave him a small smile. "Is that such a bad thing though?" she asked. Reaching forward, she laid her palm against her brother's cold cheek. "We can be together here, Nico. We can be a family again."

A lump was stuck in Nico's throat, and he found he could not speak for fear of choking on his words. Instead he simply shook his head weakly, wanting nothing more than to agree, but knowing he had to resist Lilith's attempts at keeping him in this place.

"I love you, Nico. Don't you want your sister back? Don't you love me too?"

"Please . . . don't," Nico croaked, feeling like a little boy again, something he hated more than anything. It made him feel weak, vulnerable. And Hades would not stand to have a weak son.

"But Nico," a new voice spoke from behind him. It was not Lilith. "You can have me too, you know. If you wanted. You can have _anything_."

Nico knew the voice, and he did not want to turn around. But this new person took his hand and turned him toward her. Annabeth. Inwardly he moaned. How did Lilith get through his defenses so well? She was using the two people he loved most against him.

"Nico," Annabeth said, smiling faintly. She looked beautiful. Her curly golden hair was down against her shoulders. She wore her usual Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, necklace, and shorts. The only thing missing was her bronze dagger at her side. She held his hand up between them, stroking the back of it with her thumb. "I've seen the way you watch me, Nico," she said, and her smile turned playful. "I know you want me; I can see it in your eyes. In this place you can have me. There's no Percy, no Athena. Nothing that can keep us apart."

Bending forward, she lightly kissed his forehead. Nico felt his face go red. He felt a painful ache move down through his body, and hastily stepped back, bumping into Bianca who had moved up behind him.

"I want us to be together, little brother," she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind and pressing her cheek against his dark hair. "Don't you love me enough to stay?"

Annabeth trapped him from the front, running her hands down his thin chest. "Don't you want me enough?" she asked in a low, sultry voice, licking her lips slowly.

Nico squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his fists at his side. "Alright, ENOUGH!" he shouted as loud as he could. Instantly the two girls pressing in on him vanished. He felt the weight of Bianca's arms lifted; Annabeth's wandering hands disappeared. Heaving a sigh of relief, Nico opened his eyes and shot a death glare in Lilith's direction.

She wore an amused smile, and he wished he had his sword so he could use it to wipe the smug look off her face.

"What . . . was _that_?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

"Oh, Nico, don't tell me you didn't like it." Lilith stood and walked around the bed. She placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned forward to look him straight in the eyes. It took all his willpower not to shove her away. Instead he stood still, breathing heavily, glowering darkly.

"You can have anything you want in here, Nico," Lilith told him. "You don't have to worry about pain or sorrow or hunger. I know what you dream about, Nico. I know what thoughts come into your mind as you lay dreaming. You want your father's love, his acceptance. You want your sister to return. You want Annabeth to take notice of you. I can give you all these things. All I ask for in return . . . is that you help me."

"With what?" Nico growled.

Lilith straightened, releasing his shoulders and laying a hand on his head. "Oh, nothing big," she said lightly. "Just a little plan I worked up to help my father with something. All I want you to do is shadow travel me places. That's all you need to do. And in return I can give you . . ." she spread her arms wide, "everything."

Behind her appeared Annabeth and Bianca again. But this time they were not alone. Hades appeared, smiling (actually smiling!) at him; Maria di Angelo, his mother, held out her arms to him; there was Mrs. O'Leary the hellhound, taking up half the room, her tail pounding joyfully on the floor; his Mythomagic game, cards, figurines and all; his iPod and dock from his cabin at Camp Half-Blood; a brand new aviator jacket.

He could not help but be impressed by Lilith's power, even as he backed away from it all. He knew he should refuse. What kind of hero would he be if he gave in? But as he looked from one familiar face to the next, he felt his will crumbling. What did he have back in the outside world anyway? Campers who avoided him, a father who only accepted his presence, a long-time crush in the arms of his best friend who now surely hated him . . . and a quest that seemed to have been taken from his hands. The quest . . .

"I have a quest . . ." he started, but Lilith cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"I'm sure that Artemis fellow has it all under control. He seemed quite capable of handling it himself. I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking over completely."

"I'm sure he wouldn't," Nico admitted darkly.

"So, what do you say?" Lilith asked, watching him closely.

He looked at her, then at the people and things behind her, and sighed dejectedly.

"Give me time to think about it, at least," he muttered, feeling like a failure already.

Lilith clapped her hands in delight, everything she had conjured disappearing in wisps of gray smoke. "You'll say yes," she said with a grin. "I have this way with people. They _always_ say yes to me."

She ruffled his hair and then disappeared herself. Nico was left alone in the large room, which seemed about ready to swallow him up. He sighed and gripped his hair with both hands.

"This seriously sucks," he muttered, before turning and throwing himself back on the bed. What he would not give to go back in time and refuse the stupid quest. At least back at Camp things were better than this. Sure he had been avoided, but at least he still had had Percy and Annabeth and Mrs. O'Leary as friends. Now he had nobody.

"The Oracle probably saw this coming," he said to himself, flipping over to frown up at the ceiling. "She knew I would fail. At least they have _Artemis_ to get it done." He spat the name out as though it tasted bad. "Well, who cares? Someone here needs my help with something I _know_ I can do. Would it be so bad if I helped her out, just a little?"

But if he expected an answer, he received none. Instead the oppressive silence that followed weighed heavily on him, and guilt and doubt began whispering dismal thoughts in his ear.

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**This is a very weird chapter. I wasn't planning on having an OC, but Lilith insisting on putting her in the story and apparently she's very hard to dissuade. . . . Next chapter will deal solely on Artemis Fowl. (Sorry he's been downplayed lately, but this is Artemis set in the PJatO universe. If it was the other way around (with the PJatO characters in Ireland with the LEP and the Fowl Mansion), then the story would be focused more on Artemis. But yeah, this is set in the PJatO section of the site for a reason). **

**Then after that there'll probably be a chapter devoted to Percy and Annabeth; then maybe one focused on Rachel. Not sure yet. But the next one definitely will be with Artemis. And Butler and Holly! And the Stoll brothers! XD**

**But in the meantime review and tell me what you think of this chapter!  
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